Differential effect of chronic alcohol intake and poor nutrition on body weight and fat stores

A six-months out-patient study of chronic alcoholics with undecompensated liver disease has shown a statistically significant inverse correlation between the change in mean corpuscular volume and the change in body weight (r = -0.4, P less than 0.01). A fall in body weight over this period was the best clinical indicator of apparently continuing alcohol abuse. Previous anthropometric studies have indicated that reduced adipose tissue is one cause of lower body weights in such patients. To determine whether this is due to the effects of alcohol or of poor nutrition, the epididymal fat pad weights of rats following 28 days administration of alcohol (36% of total calories) as part of a nutritionally adequate liquid diet were compared with those of pair-fed controls initially matched for body weight. At the end of the experiment, body weight gain was the same in both groups but the mean weight of the fat pads of alcohol-fed animals (371.7 mg +/- 60.0 mg SD) all of which developed hepatic steatosis was 29% greater than that of pair-fed controls (288.7 mg +/- 42.4 mg). This difference was statistically significant (P less than 0.025). This study shows that alcohol intake per se does not prevent an increase in body weight or fat even if hepatic steatosis is induced and that loss of adipose tissue in chronic alcoholics who continue to drink is probably due to simultaneous inadequate nutritional intake.