Difference in Hepatic Metabolism of Long- and Medium-Chain Fatty Acids: the Role of Fatty Acid Chain Length in the Production of the Alcoholic Fatty Liver

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Abstract

Replacement of dietary triglycerides containing long-chain fatty acids (LCFA) by triglycerides containing medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA) markedly reduced the capacity of alcohol to produce fatty liver in rats. After 24 days of ethanol and MCFA, the increase in hepatic triglycerides was only 3 times that of controls, whereas an 8-fold rise was observed after ethanol and LCFA. The triglyceride fatty acids that accumulated in the liver after feeding of ethanol with MCFA contained only a small percentage of the MCFA; their composition also differed strikingly from that of adipose lipids.

Authors

Charles S. Lieber, André Lefèvre, Norton Spritz, Lawrence Feinman, Leonore M. DeCarli