Metabolic repercussion of coenzyme-A (CoA) in experimental ethanol hepatopathy

The administration of ethanol plus fat diet has been investigated in our laboratory in relation to the experimental fatty liver in rats. Considering that lipid metabolism are markedly altered in these experimental conditions, the present work studies the effect of simultaneous administration of Coenzyme A (CoA) on the alterations produced by ethanol and lipid diet on glycolytic and lipogenic routes. Ethanol was administered in a 15% solution as the only drinking fluid and a high fat diet (45% vegetable fat as total calories) for three months. CoA was intraperitoneally administered at a dose level of 1.0 mg/Kg body weight/day. Enzymatic activities were determined in the soluble fraction of liver homogenates. The methods used for the estimation of the enzymatic activities are described by Bergmeyer. The most significant changes found by the effect of CoA administration correspond to malic enzyme, citrate lyase and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase. Fatty acid synthetase and glycolytic kinases, especially diminished by the effect of fat diet, did not show any significant restoration of their activities when ethanol and CoA were simultaneously administered.