Effects of ethanol on the microtubules of cultured rat hepatocytes

Changes in microtubules (MT) of cultured rat hepatocytes caused by ethanol (Et-OH) or acetaldehyde (Ac-CHO) were studied immunohistochemically and by scanning electron microscopy. After a 6 hour incubation in the Et-OH added medium, the MT cables stained by indirect immunofluorescence had clearly decreased, in the same way as cells that had been cold-treated for 3 hours. These MT changes parallelled changes in the Ac-CHO levels in the medium. In the Ac-CHO added medium, the MT cables exhibited change within 3 hours. In the Et-OH and 4-methyl pyrazole added medium, Et-OH and Ac-CHO levels, and MT cables did not change during a 24 hour observation period. A decrease in hepatic MT was also confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. These results indicated that acute administration of Et-OH resulted in a decrease of hepatic MT. However, the effect was attributable to Ac-CHO and not to Et-OH itself.