Abstract
Acute effect of ethanol ingestion on hemoperfusion, rate of oxygen consumption and redox level of mitochondrial cytochrome c(+c1) in the liver in situ of anesthetized rats were measured by reflectance spectrophotometry. It was shown in fed rats that the ethanolstimulated O2 uptake in the liver by 30%. This increased O2 uptake initially caused a decrease in spectrophotometrically measured O2 saturation of hemoglobin and an increase in the redox level of cytochrome c(+c1) in the respiratory chain in the liver in situ, which was followed by an increase in blood supply to the liver. The redox change of cytochrome c(+c1) corresponds well with the change of the rate of O2 uptake. The ethanol-stimulated O2 uptake in the liver is discussed with respect to the pathogenesis of ethanol-induced liver damage.
