MANIPULATION OF ALCOHOL-DRINKING BY LIVER-TRANSPLANTATION

The procedure of liver transplantation in alcoholic liver disease rais es the question whether it would be possible to regulate the recipient 's future drinking by the choice of donor liver. To address this quest ion, we conducted transplantations with rat lines selected for high (A A) and low (ANA) alcohol preference. AA recipients having alcohol expe rience before the operation remained heavy drinkers regardless of whet her the graft came from an AA or ANA donor. However, in those AA recip ients who started drinking only after the operation, differences emerg ed, with AA grafts creating heavy drinking and ANA donor livers result ing in very low drinking. An overall increase in the acetaldehyde leve ls was introduced by the ANA livers, thus reflecting the original line differences. Similarly, in subsequent experiments, it was observed th at when the aldehyde dehydrogenase inhibitor calcium carbimide was int roduced in different amounts to the diet, alcohol drinking was reduced more in animals not used to drinking. The magnitude of this effect, e specially in situations with established heavy drinking, is of relevan ce in future contemplations about liver transplantations between human s with different aldehyde dehydrogenase genotypes.