Fatty Acid Levels in Striated Muscles of Chronic Alcohol-Fed Rats

Abstract

Abstract—Changes in the fatty acid levels in the cardiac and gastrocnemius muscles of rats that were chronically alcoholized for 3 and 6 months were studied using two methods of alcoholization: 30% ethanol-containing agar (method I) and a 5% ethanol-containing liquid diet with a balanced nutritional status (method II). In the control group, the fatty acid level in the cardiac muscle was considerably higher than that in the gastrocnemius muscle. In the animals that were alcoholized over a 3-month period using method I, a considerable increase in the levels of myristic, pentadecanoic, palmitic, stearic, and dihomo-γ-linolenic acids and the total amount of fatty acids and a decrease in ω-3 docosapentaenoic acid level were found in the cardiac muscle. After a 6-month period, during which rats were alcoholized using method I, an increase in the levels of palmitoleic and ω-6 docosapentaenoic acids and a decrease in the levels of stearic, eicosadienoic, and arachidonic acids were found. The amount of ω-3 docosapentaenoic acid in the myocardium, compared to that observed after a 3-month period during which rats were alcoholized, remained reduced compared to the control. In the gastrocnemius muscle of rats alcoholized for 3 months using method I, the amounts of myristic, vaccenic, dihomo-γ-linolenic, and ω-6 docosapentaenoic acid increased. Simultaneously, there was a tendency for the total amount of saturated, monounsaturated, and ω-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids and the total amount of fatty acids to rise. After a 6-month alcoholization, a decrease in the levels of myristic, oleic, linoleic, α- and γ-linolenic, and eicosadienoic acids, as well as the total amount of saturated, ω-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids and the total amount of all fatty acids was found. When animals were alcoholized over a 3-month period using method II, a significant increase in the amount of dihomo-γ-linolenic acid was detected in the cardiac and gastrocnemius muscles. The role of these changes in the muscle pathologies is discussed.