The effect of polyunsaturated phosphatidylcholine on lipid synthesis in ethanol-intoxicated cultured rat hepatocytes.

Rat liver cells in primary culture have been used to study the influence of ethanol and of a polyunsaturated phosphatidylcholine preparation from soybean lecithin on glycerol incorporation into lipids. Ethanol decreases the incorporation of glycerol into choline and ethanolamine phosphoglycerides and increases that into diglyceride, either when added to the incubation medium or when administered to rats prior to hepatocyte preparation. The addition of the polyunsaturated lipid material (EPL) is able to counteract the effect of ethanol modifying the labeling of glycerol in favour of phospholipids.