Morphological and biochemical effects of weekend alcohol consumption in rats: Role of concentration and gender

Table 1 General characteristics of rats: weight gain and alcohol consumption

Group	Initial body weight (g)	Final body weight (g)	Body weight gain (g) (%)	Average alcohol consumption (g/kg/d)
Control	176.50 ± 3.3	255.00 ± 23	78.5 ± 22 (43)	0
Females 5%	171.00 ± 10.57	269.00 ± 15.16	98.0 ± 20.71a (57)	0.83 ± 0.04
Females 40%	172.92 ± 4.61	294.25 ± 13.39	121.3 ± 13.91a (70)	5.52 ± 1.85
Males 5%	198.00 ± 3.21	412.00 ± 8.74	214.0 ± 11.53a (108)	1.63 ± 0.01
Males 40%	172.80 ± 9.17	300.00 ± 85.43	127.8 ± 41.29a (73)	2.26 ± 0.61

Values are expressed as the mean ± SE in each experimental group (n = 3-6).

^aP < 0.05 vs control group.

Table 2 Effects weekend alcohol consumption on serum glucose, cholesterol, and triacylglycerols

Group	Glucose (mg/dL)	Cholesterol (mg/dL)	Triacylglycerols (mg/dL)
Control	85 ± 3.89	58 ± 1.5	90 ± 2.4
Females 5%	157.33 ± 6.88a	71.83 ± 2.79a	104.5 ± 8.70
Males 5%	166.33 ± 9.13a	70.67 ± 4.37a	111.33 ± 5.69a
Females 40%	145.5 ± 11.04a	68.33 ± 2.455a	104.167 ± 3.5a
Males 40%	153 ± 7.09a	66 ± 2.98	105.8 ± 4.92a

Metabolites are expressed as mean ± SE (n = 3-6).

^aP < 0.05 vs control.

Table 3 Effects weekend alcohol consumption on serum albumin and bilirubin

Group	Bilirubin (mg/dL)	Albumin (g/dL)
Control	0.15 ± 0.01	2.70 ± 0.11
Females 5%	0.26 ± 0.05a	2.87 ± 0.09
Males 5%	0.15 ± 0.02	2.90 ± 0.20
Females 40%	0.26 ± 0.03ª	2.82 ± 0.08
Males 40%	0.18 ± 0.02	2.80 ± 0.21

Metabolites are expressed as mean ± SE (n = 3-6).

^aP < 0.05 vs control.

Table 4 Histopathological changes induced by the consumption of weekend ethanol at two concentrations

Group	Fatty change	Inflammation	Hepatocellular disorganization	Necrosis	Apoptosis
Control	0	0	0	0	0
Females 5%	+/++	+/++	0	0/+	0
Males 5%	+/++	0/++	0	0/+	0
Females 40%	+/+++	+	0/+	0/++	0
Males 40%	+/++	+/+++	0	0/++	0/++

Histopathological parameters were evaluated as described in the Material and Methods.