Species Difference in the Inhibition of Alcoholdehydrogenase by cArnitine and Acetylcarnitine

Acetylcarnitine, a metabilite of carnitine, has been porven to be a potent inhibitor of ethanol oxidation in hepatocytes. It inhibits the activity of alcohol dehydrognase (ADH), but not the microsomal ethanol oxidizing system. which was significatly inhibited by acetylcarnitine at NAD ; acetylcarnitine $\leq$1. the main objectives of his study were to ascertain the interaction between acetylcarnitine and NAD on ADH activity and to elucidate whether different species have different effects. Tehpost-mocrosomal supernatant (PMS) was prepared from normal rat, guinea pig, mouse and broilers by differential centrifugation . Horse and yeast ADH were purchased from the Sigma Chemical Co. Prepared and purchased ADH are used for determination of ADH activity in the presence or absence of carnitine and acetylcar- nitine. Binding studies showed that acetylcarnitine did bind to ADH in a dose realted manner when low NAD ; acetylcar- nitine ratio was provided. It was found that the inhibitionof ADH activity occurred only when NAD concentration was less than the inhibitor concentration . Crystalline and crude ADH preparation from different vertebrate species wer inhibited by acetylcarnitine, whereas the yeast ADH was not affected by acetylcarnitine.