Sripaung N, Motohashi Y, Nakata K, Nakamura K, Takano T
Department of Public Health and Environmental Science, School of Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan.
J Toxicol Environ Health. 1995 Aug;45(4):439-51. doi: 10.1080/15287399509532007.
The purpose of this study was to clarify the simultaneous administration of ethanol on styrene metabolism in the perfused rat liver under fed and fasted conditions. Styrene uptake rate, production rate of styrene glycol, oxygen consumption rate, and changes in reduced pyridine nucleotide fluorescence were monitored in the perfused rat liver. The effects of ethanol on parameters of styrene metabolism were observed in rat livers under fed and fasted conditions: fed (group I), fasted (group II), and fasted with xylitol in the perfusate (group III). The simultaneous administration of ethanol and styrene significantly decreased styrene uptake rate, production rate of styrene glycol, and oxygen consumption rate, and produced significant reduction of pyridine nucleotide fluorescence as compared with the single administration of styrene in groups I and III. In contrast, the simultaneous administration of ethanol and styrene significantly increased the production of styrene glycol and oxygen consumption as compared with the single administration of styrene in group II. Significant effects on the styrene uptake rate and the reduced pyridine nucleotide fluorescence were observed with regard to factors of both nutritional status and the interaction between ethanol and nutritional status by two-way analysis of variance. These findings showed that the effects of ethanol on styrene metabolism in the liver were dependent upon the nutritional status of the animal. The fed and fasted conditions affected the effect of ethanol on styrene metabolism by changing the supply of NADPH to the mixed-function oxidase system. In conclusion, ethanol suppressed styrene metabolism in the fed condition, but enhanced it in the fasted condition. This phenomenon should be considered in the prevention of occupational hazard of styrene exposure in industrial workers with alcohol drinking habits and nutritional problems.
