Bone marrow triglyceride accumulation and hormonal changes during long-term alcohol intake in male and female rats

Background: Chronic alcohol consumption may influence the metabolism of adi pocytes, the most abundant stromal cell phenotype in bone marrow, and promo te bone marrow triglyceride accretion. Methods: Male and female rats 35 days old were fed the Lieber-De Carli liqu id diet containing 36% of the calories as alcohol and were compared with pa ir-fed rats given an isocaloric liquid diet in which maltose-dextrin substi tuted for the calories supplied by alcohol. Other control rats were fed cho w ad libitum. The rats were maintained on these diets for 64 days, after wh ich the femurs were recovered and examined. Results: End weights of male and female alcohol-fed rats were significantly lower than both control groups. Femur diaphyseal bone marrow triglyceride levels were significantly increased in alcohol-fed male and female rats com pared with both control groups. Femur bone marrow cavity diameters were sig nificantly increased and cortical thickness was significantly decreased by alcohol in both males and females. Serum insulin levels were significantly decreased by alcohol only in female rats compared with the ad libitum but n ot the pair-fed control group, and insulin-like growth factor-1 levels were significantly reduced in male and female rats given the alcohol diet compa red with both controls. Male testosterone and female estradiol levels remai ned unchanged. Male estradiol levels were significantly increased by alcoho l compared with both controls, and female progesterone levels were signific antly reduced by alcohol compared with pair-fed rats. Whereas female leptin levels were unchanged by alcohol, male leptin levels were significantly in creased by alcohol compared with pair-fed rats. Conclusions: Hormonal and growth factor changes during chronic alcohol cons umption accompany triglyceride accumulation in diaphyseal bone marrow and m ay parallel the effects of alcohol on mesenchymal stem cells and the balanc e between osteogenic and adipogenic lineages and their cellular progenies.