Glycerol clearance in alcoholic liver disease

Abstract

Glycerol clearance was studied by a primed dose-constant infusion technique in 14 patients with alcoholic liver disease and six normal control subjects. Fasting blood glycerol concentrations were raised in the alcoholic subjects (0.09 ± 0.01 vs 0.06 ± 0.01 μmol/l, P < 0.05) and glycerol clearance was impaired (24.5 ± 1.9 vs 37.5 ± 3.2 ml/kg/min, P < 0.005). Endogenous production rate of glycerol and distribution space at steady state were similar in alcoholic and control subjects. The metabolic clearance rate of glycerol correlated negatively with basal glycerol concentrations. Thus tissue uptake of glycerol is impaired in liver disease. As glycerol is metabolised primarily in the liver by conversion to glycose, these data suggest a defect of gluconeogenesis in alcoholic liver disease.