Pawlosky R J, Salem N
Laboratory of Membrane Biochemistry and Biophysics, National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD 20852, USA.
Am J Clin Nutr. 1995 Jun;61(6):1284-9. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/61.6.1284.
Alcohol altered the fatty acyl composition of the liver, brain, and retina of domestic felines that were maintained on a diet having low, but adequate, amounts of essential fatty acids. For 8 mo, seven adult cats were provided a diet with 10% fat (by wt), consisting of 9:1 ratio of hydrogenated coconut oil:corn oil. During 6 of these 8 mo, four of the cats were given oral daily doses of a 95% ethanol solution (1.2 g.kg-1.d-1). Cats were killed and the fatty acyl composition of tissues were determined. In the plasma and livers of the alcohol-exposed animals, there were significant decreases in the concentrations of 18:2 omega 6, 20:4 omega 6, 22:5 omega 3, and 22:6 omega 3 and increases in the concentrations of the nonessential fatty acids 16:1 omega 7, 18:1 omega 9, and 20:3 omega 9. In the brains and retinas of the alcohol-exposed animals, 22:6 omega 3 decreased by 17% and there was a compensatory increase in 22:5 omega 6. In the retinas, the concentration of 22:5 omega 6 increased by 250%. The reciprocal change in the ratio of 22:6 omega 3 to 22:5 omega 6 is known to be associated with a loss in nervous system function and may provide a biochemical mechanism underlying some of the neuropathology associated with alcoholism.
