ALCOHOL AND ENERGY METABOLISM OF INTESTINAL MUCOSA

Abstract

Abnormalities of intestinal absorption have been observed in chronic alcoholic subjects. We investigated the effect of the acute and chronic administration of ethanol on the energy metabolism of the rat small intestinal mucosa with respect of a possible, direct enterotoxic effect of ethanol.
Acute ethanol ingestion did not change the rate of oxygen consumption of the intestinal mucosal homogenate. By contrast, chronic ethanol administration reduced the rate of oxygen consumption with added substrates, although it did not change the concentration of the respiratory enzymes of the intestinal mucosa.
From these observations, it is suggested that the mitochondrial impairment of the intestinal mucosa is one of the underlying causes of malabsorption in chronic alcoholics.