Effects of Ethanol or Naltrexone after Ethanol Exposure on Plasma Levels of Hepatic Enzymes, Lipid Profile and Apolipoprotein in Rats

This work studied the effects of ethanol and naltrexone on plasma levels of hepatic enzymes, lipid profiles and apoprotein (APO-A1). Rats were treated daily with ethanol for 7 days and, after ethanol discontinuation, they received naltrexone up to the 14th day. The results showed increased alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotranferase (AST) activities, as well as total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TGI) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels after ethanol. Naltrexone alone significantly increased APO-A1 and TGI levels and significantly decreased TC concentrations. Naltrexone treatment after ethanol exposure leads to a significant increase in both ALT (48%) and AST (34%). While no changes were seen in HDL-C levels, naltrexone blocked the increase in TC levels induced by ethanol. However, TGI as well as APO-A1 levels were maintained at higher values as compared to controls and similar to those observed to the naltrexone group without ethanol treatment. The work indicates that the hypolipaemic effect of naltrexone after ethanol exposure is a favorable point to the use of this opioid antagonist in the treatment of alcoholism.