Dietarily-induced changes in voluntary ethanol consumption and ethanol metabolism in the rat.

1. The voluntary ethanol consumption, ethanol elimination rate and blood acetaldehyde level after intraperiotoneal injection of ethanol were studied in rats receiving diets with highly imbalanced proportions of dietary protein, carbohydrate and fat. 2. The rats, which received the low-protein diet containing 0.05 of the total energy as protein, 0.80 as carbohydrate and o.15 as fat, drank only approximately half as much ethanol as did the control group, which received 0.30 of its total food energy from protein, 0.55 from carbohydrate and 0.15 from fat. Ethanol elimination rate in the low-protein group was decreased and the blood acetaldehyde level after ethanol injection was markedly increased. 3. On the high-fat diet, which contained 0.30 of the total energy from protein, 0.05 from carbohydrate and 0.65 from fat, the rats drank significantly more ethanol than did the rats on the control diet; their ethanol elimination rate was decreased but their blood acetaldehyde level was not affected. 4. In conclusion, the strong decrease in voluntary ethanol drinking by the low-protein group may have been caused by the increased acetaldehyde accumulation in the blood, but a particularly low blood acetaldehyde level was not one of the factors inducing excessive ethanol drinking in the high-fat group.