Effects of Alkyl Alcohols and Related Chemicals on Rat Liver Structure and Function: III. Physicochemical Properties of Ethanol-, Propanol- and Butanol-treated Rat Liver Mitochondrial Membranes

The physicochemical properties of mitochondria in liver tissue obtained from rats given 32% ethanol, 32% propanol or 6.9% butanol in drinking water for up to 3 months were investigated using differential scanning calo-rimetry and fluorescence polarization measurements. The results obtained were as follows: 1) Phospholipids extracted from mitochondria showed increases in the relative amounts of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylserine, and a decrease in the relative amount of phosphatidylethanolamine. An increase in the unsatu-rated/saturated fatty acid ratio of phospholipids was also observed. 2) Elevation of the thermotropic lipid phase transition temperature with a decrease in the enthalpy value (δH) was revealed by differential scanning calo-rimetry. 3) The elevation of the lipid phase transition temperature was detected also by fluorescence polarization measurements using 1,6 diphenyl 1, 3, 5 hexatriene (DPH) as a probe. Elevation of mitochondrial membrane fluidity was found in some of the experimental animals, but most showed no changes in comparison with the control. A possible role of membrane fusion in the mechanism of formation of ethanol-, propanol- and butanol induced hepatic megamitochondria is discussed on the basis of these results. Acta Pathol Jpn 42: 549–557, 1992.