The effect of acute ethanol administration on phosphorylcholine uptake and metabolism in rat liver slices

Liver slices obtained from normal and acutely ethanol-intoxicated rats were incubated with labelled choline plus unlabelled orthophosphate or labelled phosphorylcholine (PC). After variable times of incubation hydrosoluble compounds and choline phosphoglycerides (CPG) were extracted from the tissue and analyzed. When compared to controls, the slices obtained from intoxicated livers accumulated more PC and synthesized more CPG when incubated with PC; on the other hand, when incubated with choline, they accumulated less PC. From these results it can be concluded that PC is a better lipid precursor in intoxicated livers, than in normal ones. In any case CPG becomes better labelled after incubation with choline than with PC; base-exchange could be liable for this result.