Effect of chronic alcohol administration on liver morphology and on brush border membrane enzymes after jejunoileal bypass operation in rat

To determine whether jejunoileal bypass operation and alcohol administration exerted a synergistic effect on the activities of brush border membrane enzymes and on liver morphology, adult rats where submitted either to sham operation or to jejunoileal bypass operation. 2 weeks after operation the rats received a 15% solution of ethanol during a period of 4 weeks, controls received water. In the sham-operated rats, alcohol provoked stimulation of the disaccharidase activities in the proximal jejunum but had no effect on these activities in the ileum. Bypass operation alone induced a significant increase in sucrase activity in the functioning ileum but had no effect on the jejunal disaccharidase activities. Alcohol administered after bypass provoked a further increase in ileal brush border sucrase activity. The increase of the brush border enzyme specific activities in the excluded loop resulted from the important protein loss observed in this segment. Alcohol alone or bypass operation by itself had little effect on liver morphology. In contrast, when associated they induced extensive accumulation of fat droplets in the hepatocytes. Since alcohol is frequently associated with the diet in man, alcohol should be considered as an important contributing factor to intestinal enzyme adaptation and liver dysfunction after jejunoileal bypass operation.