CELL CYCLE AND ORGANELLE ENZYME CHANGES IN THE REGENERATING LIVER OF THE ALCOHOLIC RAT

Chronic ethanol effect on regenerating post-partial hepatectomyrat liver was studied from 0 to 80 hr to evaluate sequentialchanges. The rate of restoration in liver mass was comparablebetween controls (C) and ethanol (E) treated rats. Cell cyclechanges included a decrease in magnitude and duration of theearly peak in DNA synthesis (24 hr). However, the second peak(40 hr) was increased in magnitude so that the net change wasnegligible. Histone synthesis increased markedly, whereas thymidinekinase activity was moderately increased. The net effect wasan accelerated accumulation of DNA (0.18 mg of DNA/g liver/hrvs 0.29 mg of DNA/g liver/hr; C vs E). The M phase of the cellcycle was initially delayed by ethanol, but once initiated,it exhibited greater numbers of mitoses reaching significanceat 72 hr. It is concluded that although ethanol induces multiplechanges, the overall process of restoring liver mass and cellnumber (DNA synthesis) is not impaired.