Hepatic lipid peroxidation and mitochondrial susceptibility to peroxidative attacks during ethanol inhalation and withdrawal.

Male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to increasing concentrations (15-22 mg/l) of ethanol vapor over a 4-day period. The hepatic lipid peroxide level as well as the sensitivity of mitochondria and microsomes to peroxidative attacks were studied during the early stage of alcohol intoxication, at the end of the inhalation period and, finally, during withdrawal. The level of hepatic lipid peroxide started to increase significantly after the first day of ethanol inhalation, whereas the in vitro mitochondrial sensitivity to peroxidation induced by ADP X Fe3+ in the presence of an O(2)-generating system was still unaltered after a 2-day inhalation period. Both the hepatic peroxide level and the mitochondrial sensitivity to peroxidation were significantly enhanced at the end of the 4-day inhalation period. Such an enhancement was still apparent 24 h after withdrawal, a time at which no more ethanol was present in the blood. Lipid peroxidation returned to normal values only 48 h after withdrawal. Microsomes were less affected than mitochondria by the ethanol treatment. It is suggested that the alterations of lipid peroxidation are related to the presence and/or the metabolism of ethanol at an early stage of inhalation, whereas changes in the membrane structure would be responsible for the maintenance of enhanced lipid peroxidation 24 h after ethanol withdrawal.