Alcoholic fatty liver in rats: Role of fat and ethanol intake

The claim that high intake of both ethanol and fat is essential to induce fatty liver and high blood alcohol levels (BAL) was tested. Two groups of rats were fed liquid diets containing 26% and 36% of calories as ethanol respectively. After 4 weeks, all rats were bled for BAL and some were sacrificed to obtain liver morphology. Remaining rats in Group 1 (26% ethanol) were switched to 36% ethanol diet and Group 2 (36% ethanol) to 26% ethanol diet. All rats were sacrificed after 4 weeks to obtain blood for BAL and liver morphology. The results indicate that high ethanol intake and high fat ingestion is not the criterion for induction of fatty liver. Inadequate ingestion of macronutrients plays a major role in alcoholic fatty liver and BAL.