Metabolic effects of ethanol on primary cell cultures of rat skeletal muscle
Received 1 May 2004; received in revised form 27 December 2004; accepted 27 December 2004.
Abstract
Individuals who have consumed alcohol chronically accumulate glycogen in their skeletal muscles. Changes in the energy balance caused by alcohol consumption might lead to alcoholic myopathy. Experimental models used in the past, such as with skeletal muscle biopsy samples of alcohol-dependent individuals or in animal models, do not distinguish between direct effects and indirect effects (i.e., alterations to the nervous or endocrine system) of alcohol. In the current study, we evaluated the direct effect of ethanol on skeletal muscle glycogen concentrations and related glycolytic pathways. We measured the changes in metabolite concentrations and enzyme activities of carbohydrate metabolism in primary cell cultures of rat skeletal muscle exposed to ethanol for two periods. The concentrations of glycolytic metabolites and the activities of several enzymes that regulate glucose and glycogen metabolism were measured. After a short exposure to ethanol (6 h), glucose metabolism slowed. After 48 h of exposure, glycogen accumulation was observed.
Muscle Research Group, Department of Physiological Science I and Department of Medicine, Facultat de Medicina, Institut d' Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Universitat de Barcelona, C/Casanova 143, 08036 Barcelona, Spain
Corresponding author. Unitat de Bioquímica, Facultat de Medicina, C/Casanova 143, 08036 Barcelona, Spain. Tel.: +34-93-4021919; fax: +34-93-4035882.
1 Present address: Fels Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Biology, Temple University School of Medicine, 3307 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA.
ABSTRACT