Effect of intravenous phospholipid and Triton on lipids of normal and ethanol-treated rats

¹ Division of Physiology, University of Tennessee Medical Units, Memphis, Tennessee

The administration of ethanol to normal rats results in a significant increase in liver neutral fat. The continuous intravenous administration of either choline or soya lecithin following ethanol administration did not modify the development of the fatty liver. However, the infusion of soya lecithin significantly increased plasma cholesterol levels in both normal and ethanol-treated rats. In normal rats the continuous intravenous infusion of soya lecithin was associated with a pronounced elevation in free cholesterol and a decrease in the esterified fraction. The latter alteration was not observed when egg lecithin was employed. Injection of nonionic detergents did not reproduce the plasma or liver lipid response evoked by phospholipids.