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Controversy exists as to whether the induction of CYP2E1 by ethanol occurs via increased protein synthesis or protein stabilization. To address these issues in vivo, we chronically administered ethanol to rats and determined levels of immunoreactive CYP2E1 in liver, kidney, brain and upper gastro-intestinal tract (GI). Our data shows that chronic ethanol administration induces hepatic (5-6-fold over pair-fed controls) and extra-hepatic CYP2E1, an effect which is strikingly absent 12 hours after ethanol withdrawal. No changes in CYP2E1 mRNA were observed at any time, suggesting these changes are mainly post-translational at a blood ethanol concentration of 0.15% w/v. Our experimental data indicates that CYP2E1 possesses a half-life of 6 hours or less in the liver and is rapidly degraded following the removal of ethanol. This pattern of CYP2E1 turnover was also observed in other tissues, suggestive of a similar mode of regulation.

We have previously demonstrated (M. Stubbs, Z. M. Bhujwalla, G. M. Tozer, L. M. Rodrigues, R. J. Maxwell, R. Morgan, F. A. Howe, and J. R. Griffiths, NMR Biomed., 5: 351, 1992) that the intracellular pH (pHi) of several rat tumors is higher (> pH 7.0) than that of the tumor extracellular fluid (pHe), in contrast to normal tissues (e.g., liver) in which pHi is lower than pHe. In this paper we confirm a pHe of 6.8 +/- 0.07 (SEM) in Morris hepatoma 9618a by an independent method and report the tissue content of other ions by both 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy and by conventional analysis in hepatomas and livers in rats. Compared with liver, tissue Na+ was 2-fold higher and tissue K+ was lower. Tissue Ca2+ was 8-fold higher (7.4 +/- 4.3 mumol/g wet weight) and tissue Pi was 2-fold higher (8.5 +/- 1.3 mumol/g wet weight) suggesting the presence of insoluble calcium phosphate. Cl- was unchanged (approximately 40 mumol/g wet weight), whereas HCO3- was lower in the hepatoma (12.4 +/- 0.83 compared to 15.5 +/- 0.76 mumol/g wet weight). Total tissue Mg2+ was similar in both tissues, but free [Mg2+] (calculated by two different methods) was approximately 5-fold lower in the hepatoma. The ATP values were 3.5-fold and [NAD]/[NADH] 9-fold lower in the hepatoma. The results are compatible with the hypothesis that the chronic partial hypoxia of tumor tissue involves changes in the linked equilibria of many ions and metabolites and may help explain such pathologies as calcification.