Inhibition of ethanol metabolism by fructose in alcohol dehydrogenase-deficient deer mice in vivo.

The purpose of this work was to compare the roles of a newly described mitochondrial dehydrogenase and catalase in ethanol elimination in deer mice deficient in alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH-). Fructose was used because of its well-known ability to stimulate dehydrogenase-dependent ethanol metabolism. Rates of ethanol metabolism in vivo were decreased significantly by about 60% in a dose-dependent manner by fructose in deer mice fed an ethanol-containing or a corn oil control diet. In addition, rates of metabolism of methanol, a selective substrate for catalase in rodents, were similar to rates of ethanol elimination and were decreased from 6.9 +/- 1.0 to 1.7 +/- 0.5 mmol/kg/h by fructose, supporting the hypothesis that catalase and not a mitochondrial dehydrogenase predominates in ethanol oxidation in ADH-deer mice. Glycolate, a substrate for peroxisomal H2O2 generation, reversed the inhibition of alcohol metabolism by fructose completely, indicating that fructose did not inhibit catalase directly. As expected, the ATP/ADP ratio was decreased by fructose significantly from 4.2 +/- 0.4 to 2.4 +/- 0.4 in deer mouse livers. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that fructose decreases catalase-dependent ethanol metabolism in vivo by inhibiting hepatic H2O2 generation.