Pyrazole and induction of fatty liver by a single dose of ethanol.

Pyrazole (4 millimoles per kilogram or 272 milligrams per kilogram of body weight), given to fasted rats 10 minutes before gavage with ethanol (4 grams per kilogram), completely prevented both the disappearance of ethanol from the blood over a 16-hour period and the ethanol-induced reduction in the ratio of oxidized to reduced hepatic nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide. However, it did not affect the accumulation of triglycerides in the liver after the administration of ethanol. These results indicate that metabolism of ethanol is not required for production of fatty liver by a single, large dose of ethanol.