Experimental Hepatocellular Necrosis Induced by Ethanol after Partial Inhibition of Liver Alcohol Dehydrogenase

Abstract

Among alcoholics, incidence and type of hepatic lesions are related not only to duration of alcohol abuse, but also to mean daily consumption. In our own series of 526 consecutive cases, alcoholics with severe lever damage, i.e., lesions exceeding simple fatty liver, had had a mean ethanol intake of more than 160 g per day, on the average between 200 and 245 g per day (1). With respect to body weight this meant à consumption of about 130–150 mg/kg of body weight per hour. In man, the limited rate of ethanol oxidation is said to be 100 ± 30 mg/kg/h, with an individual range of 50–180 mg/kg/h (2).