Role of dietary, adipose and endogenously synthesized fatty acids in the pathogenesis of the alcoholic fatty liver

The fatty liver associated with alcoholism has been shown to be due not only to nutritional de-ficiencies (2) but also to direct effects of ethanol itself (3, 4). The origin of the fatty acids ac-cumulating in the liver, however, remains the subject of much debate (4-7). Administration of a single large dose of ethanol to rats was found to result in the deposition in the liver of fatty acids similar in composition to adipose tissue, leading to the concept that increased peripheral fat mobilization is responsible for the alcoholic fatty liver (8). On the other hand, studies of the effect of ethanol on free fatty acid (FFA) con-centrations (9, 10), arteriovenous differences across extremities (9), and FFA turnover (11) have indicated either no effect or even a de-crease in peripheral fat mobilization. To resolve these differences, we undertook the present study in which direct comparison was made of the fatty acid compositions of liver and adipose tissue lipids after acute or prolonged ethanol intake with low-fat or fat-containing diets. It was confirmed that, in rats, the administration of a single large dose of * Submitted for publication May 21, 1965; accepte