It is known that ethanol increases oxygen consumption in in vitro liver models, which could
lead to hypoxia. Although it was shown recently that one large dose of ethanol caused
hypoxia in rat liver in vivo, whether ethanol produces hypoxia in a clinically relevant chronic
model remains unclear. In the present study, therefore, the effect of chronic ethanol on
hypoxia was investigated in vivo using the 2-nitroimidazole hypoxia marker, pimonidazole.
Male Wistar rats (300-325 g) were exposed to enteral ethanol continuously for 4 weeks. In …