Submitted on April 14, 2003
Accepted on August 26, 2003
LIVER ASIALOGLYCOPROTEIN RECEPTOR LEVELS CORRELATE WITH SEVERITY OF ALCOHOLIC LIVER DAMAGE IN RATS
Carol A Casey1*, Benita L McVicker1, Terrence M Donohue, Jr.1, Melinda A McFarland2, Robert L Wiegert3, and Amin A Nanji4
1 Research, Department of Veteran's Affairs, Omaha, NE, USA; Internal Medicine and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA
2 Research, Department of Veteran's Affairs, Omaha, NE, USA
3 Internal Medicine and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA
4 Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ccasey{at}unmc.edu.
It has been demonstrated that the oral administration of ethanol (Lieber-DeCarli liquid diet) to rats results in a decreased expression and content of the asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGP-R) in the resultant fatty liver. In the current study, we wanted to determine whether the extent of impaired receptor content was correlated with the severity of liver pathology using the intragastric feeding model. When ASGP-R protein and mRNA levels were measured in animals infused with ethanol or dextrose in the presence of fish oil (FO) or medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) as the source of fat, more significant impairments to the ASGP-R were observed in the FO-ethanol group when compared with the MCT-ethanol group. Furthermore, only the FO-ethanol group showed pathological liver changes. These results demonstrate that a correlation exists between the progression of alcohol associated liver injury, as defined by the severity of liver pathology, and an ethanol-induced decline in ASGP-R content.
