Alcohol is harmful to the body, causing hepatic steatosis, alcoholic hepatitis and cirrhosis. The effects of alcohol on the liver can be offset using natural antioxidants. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the administration of oral β-carotene on the morphoquantitative characteristics of mice livers exposed to ethanol consumption. Forty-eight male mice were used, divided into six groups: Control (C), Low-dose alcohol (LA), Moderate-dose alcohol (MA), β-carotene (B), Low-dose alcohol+β-carotene (LA+B) and Moderate-dose alcohol+β-carotene (MA+B). On day 28 the animals were euthanized and the organs were harvested. The morphoquantitative analysis, evaluation of the collagen fiber content and transmission electron microscopy were performed. A one-way ANOVA was used for statistical analysis. There were no differences between NVhep, VVhep, SVhep, VVbin, TVhep and TMhep in groups C and the MA+B (P < 0.001). The analysis of type I collagen fibers revealed that the MA+B group presented differences with groups C (P < 0.001), LA (P = 0.046) and LA+B (P = 0.009). The ultrastructural analysis for NAm, NVm, NTm, VVm, Vm, SVm and TSm did not reflect any significant differences between the groups. Our results suggest that the degree of hepatic steatosis produced by different doses of alcohol can be prevented. However, the following factors should be considered: amount of alcohol consumed, exposure time, regulatory mechanisms of alcoholic liver disease and signaling pathways involved in the ingestion of both ethanol and antioxidants.
Keywords: Ethanol intake; alcoholic fatty liver disease; morphoquantitative analysis; β-carotene.
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