Alcohol consumption and hepatic fibrosis affect the fatty acid composition of red blood cells and their susceptibility to lipid peroxidation.

Erythrocytes from alcoholics with and without liver cirrhosis and from rats treated either with ethanol or thioacetamide, the latter treatment resulting in hepatic fibrosis, were analysed for their membrane fatty acid composition and their susceptibility to lipid peroxidation. Red cells containing less arachidonic acid than controls, as found in alcoholics with liver cirrhosis, were less susceptible to lipid peroxidation than controls. This observation was confirmed by experiments with rat erythrocytes obtained from animals with hepatic fibrosis. However, red cells containing less linoleic acid than controls, as found in alcoholics without liver cirrhosis, exhibited a normal degree of lipid peroxidation upon oxidant stress induced by hydrogen peroxide. The results demonstrated that in red cells only fatty acids with four double bonds seem to be involved in membrane peroxidation reactions under the condition chosen. This observation might be of relevance for in vivo aging of red cells.