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Effect of Chronic Alcohol Consumption and Moderate Fat Diet on Vitamin A Status in Rats Fed either Vitamin A or ß-Carotene^1,2,

Department of Food Science, 567 Bevier Hall, 905 S. Goodwin, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801

The effect of chronic alcohol consumption on vitamin A metabolism was investigated in male rats. Liquid diets containing five times the NRC requirement for vitamin A and varied levels of ethanol were fed. The vitamin A content of the liver was decreased in rats receiving alcohol. Liver lipids were only slightly elevated in alcohol-fed rats. Hepatic vitamin A storage was also decreased in rats fed 30% calories as alcohol and ß-carotene or vitamin A at the NRC requirement level, but not in rats fed one-sixth the NRC requirement as vitamin A. The activities of alcohol dehydrogenase, NADPH cytochrome c reductase, and retinol dehydrogenase were not altered in hepatic or testicular tissue by the vitamin A or alcohol content of the diet. When an intragastric dose of [³H]retinyl acetate or [¹⁴C]ß-carotene was administered, fecal excretion of radioactivity was lower than controls in rats receiving 30% ethanol in the diet for a total of 4 weeks, for 1 week following 7 weeks of control diet consumption, and after an acute dose of ethanol. Recovery of the ³H label was greater in the testes of rats chronically consuming ethanol. When a solution containing [³H]retinyl acetate or [³H]ß-carotene with or without ethanol was injected into intestinal segments, no alterations in absorption of retinyl acetate or ß-carotene due to ethanol occurred. It is concluded that alcohol consumption results in decreased hepatic vitamin A storage, which is not due to the malabsorption of either retinyl acetate or ß-carotene, or to altered activities of several enzymes involved in ethanol and vitamin A metabolism.

KEY WORDS: • vitamin A • alcohol • ß-carotene

¹ Portions of this work have appeared in earlier abstracts, Fed. Proc. 40, 859 (1981) and Fed. Proc. 41, 387 (1982).

² Supported by grant No. 5901-0410-9-0807 from U.S. Department of Agriculture/Science and Education Administration Grants Program.

Manuscript received 6 August 1982.