The effect of chronic ethanol consumption on NADH- and NADPH-dependent generation of reactive oxygen intermediates by isolated rat liver nuclei.

Previous results have shown that microsomes from ethanol-treated rats generate reactive oxygen intermediates at elevated rates as compared to pair-fed controls in the presence of NADH and especially NADPH. Since isolated rat liver nuclei can produce oxygen radicals with NADH or NADPH as reductants, the effect of chronic ethanol treatment on nuclear generation of reactive oxygen intermediates was determined. Ethanol treatment increased the activity of NADH (+27%) and NADPH (+50%) cytochrome c reductase in the nucleus. Nuclear lipid peroxidation, H2O2 production, and generation of hydroxyl radical-like species were increased by about 25 to 40% after ethanol treatment. In contrast to microsomes, where NADPH-dependent rates were higher than the NADH-dependent rates, in nuclei, NADH was as effective as, or even more reactive than NADPH in promoting production of various oxidizing species. The increases in oxygen radical production by nuclei after ethanol treatment were less than the increases found previously for microsomes. Moreover, rates of oxygen radical production by nuclei were less than 10% of the corresponding rates found with microsomes, suggesting that it is unlikely that the small increases found with nuclei after ethanol treatment contribute significantly towards the development of a state of oxidative stress in the liver.