Increased vitamin A in esophagus and lungs after moderate ethanol consumption.

Moderate ethanol consumption, at the level of 18% of total energy as part of a liquid diet, was found to result in a significant increase of total vitamin A content in the esophageal mucosa in rats fed normal-zinc-containing or zinc-supplemented diets. There was also an increase in total vitamin A content in the lungs after ethanol consumption, but the change was significant only in the zinc-supplemented group. In the liver, retinyl palmitate plus oleate decreased after ethanol, whereas free retinol, retinyl stearate, and linoleate increased. Ethanol consumption resulted in a modest decrease in hepatic zinc content when expressed per gram of liver, but not per total liver (per 100 gram of body weight). Although chronic ethanol consumption at the level of 18% of total energy did not affect total hepatic vitamin A, there was still a significant increase of vitamin A content in esophagus and lungs.