[Effect of ethanol on cholesterol restoration in tissues of the heart and aorta]

The time course (0.5-24 hours) of incorporation of labelled cholesterol in the tissues of guinea pig hearts, aortas, livers, and brains was examined on acute and chronic (3 months) administration of ethanol (3 g/kg). It was found that at the onset of the experiments, the hearts from control and experimental animals displayed higher radioactivity that did the other tissue under study. Within the first 24 hours, there was a linear increase in specific radioactivity of [3H]-cholesterol in the sera of intact animals. Acute and chronic ethanol caused enhanced incorporation of [3H]-cholesterol and its delayed release in all tissues, except the liver tissue. The latter showed unchanged relative specific radioactivity two hours after [3H]-cholesterol incorporation.