Effect of acute and chronic ethanol consumption on hepatic tissue oxygen tension in rats

In vivo hepatic tissue oxygenation was investigated in chronically ethanol-treated rats using micro oxygen electrode and reflectance spectrophotometry. Effect of acute ethanol administration was also studied. Hepatic oxygen tension of rats treated with ethanol chronically (daily ethanol intake, 9-12 g/kg for 9 months) was very low as compared with that of normal rats, the decrease being comparable to that of rats treated with carbon tetrachloride. The hepatic oxygen tension in normal controls shortly after ethanol ingestion increased from basal level (median, 23 mmHg) to 40-70 mmHg, while in chronically ethanol-treated rats, the hepatic oxygen tension decreased transiently, followed by a gradual increase, but it still remained low. In CCl4-treated rats, the hepatic oxygen tension decreased further after the ethanol ingestion. It is concluded that chronic ethanol consumption in rats resulted in hepatic hypoxia with decreased liver blood flow and volume. Also acute ethanol administration does not induce hepatic hypoxia in normal rats, while in rats with injured liver it induces hypoxia.