Chronic alcohol consumption during pregnancy: alleviation of untoward effects by adequate nutrition

Action of intraduodenal ethanol on exocrine pancreatic secretion in chronic alcoholic rats fed with different diets

The effects of diet composition (equilibrated and fat- and protein-rich) in combination with chronic ethanol ingestion on pancreatic exocrine secretion were studied in rats after a 7-month treatment period, also analyzing under these experimental conditions the acute effects of intraduodenal administration of 20% ethanol. Chronic consumption of ethanol affected pancreatic flow but its acute administration stimulated the secretion of fluid, especially in control rats. Total protein secretion is depressed in all rats receiving ethanol as fluid, but this was increased when rats drank water. Amylase activity depends on carbohydrate levels, decreased with fat and protein-rich diet but not with ethanol ingestion. Diet composition by itself did not affect specific trypsin activity but this increased significantly when a fat- and protein-rich diet was administered together with ethanol. Trypsin activity remained unchanged when ethanol was perfused into the duodenum in animals receiving ethanol chronically.

Induction of malnutrition in chronic alcoholism: role of gastric emptying

Epidemiological studies reveal that chronic alcoholics exhibiting liver disease are generally malnourished. Experimental studies unequivocally demonstrate that incidence of malnutrition cannot be avoided in animals fed liquid diets containing high concentrations of alcohol. Furthermore, ingestion of additional amounts of macronutrients by such chronically alcoholic animals prevents or regresses alcohol-induced adverse effects despite a continuous intake of high amounts of alcohol. It is thus apparent that high amounts of alcohol intake and malnutrition are necessary factors to produce adverse effects in chronic alcoholism. The mechanism by which malnutrition manifests in chronic alcoholism is, however, not clear. Recent studies have demonstrated, a) an inverse relationship between alcohol and non-alcohol energy intake and its impact on alcohol-induced effects in chronically alcoholic rats, b) a synergism between malnutrition and high doses of alcohol intake in the induction of alcoholemia, and c) that chronic alcoholemia significantly prolongs the delay in gastric emptying. Data obtained from these studies enable us to hypothesize that abnormal prolongation of gastric emptying in alcoholics with chronic alcoholemia may play a major role in the initiation of macronutrient deficiencies leading eventually to the induction of malnutrition.