Effects of malotilate on alcoholic liver injury in rats.

Malotilate (diisopropyl 1,3-dithio-2-yldenemalonate), a hepatotrophic drug, was administered to rats with alcohol-pyrazole hepatitis, which is considered to be a suitable experimental model for alcoholic liver injury, in order to elucidate the effects of malotilate on alcoholic liver injury. The number of ballooned hepatocytes and necrotic hepatocytes were smaller in the alcohol-pyrazole hepatitis rats treated with malotilate for 12 weeks (Al-Py Mal group) than for those without malotilate treatment (Al-Py group). Immunohistochemically, the retention of transferrin, one of the secretory proteins from the liver, in the ballooned hepatocytes was inhibited by malotilate. Biochemically, transferrin content in the Golgi fraction of the hepatocytes was significantly lower in the Al-Py Mal group than in the Al-Py group. Hepatic acetaldehyde levels in the Al-Py Mal group were significantly lower than those in the Al-Py group, even though ethanol metabolic rates were not different between the two groups. These results indicated that malotilate prevented the development of hepatocytic injury in alcohol-pyrazole hepatitis by decreasing hepatic acetaldehyde levels and preventing the retention of transferrin in the hepatocytes.