Several lines of investigation indicate that dietary fat can modulate the severity of alcoholic liver injury (
Mezey, 1998). In experimental animals, for example, diets enriched with saturated fatty acids protect against alcohol-induced liver injury, whereas diets containing polyunsaturated fatty acids promote liver injury (
Nanji and French, 1989;
Nanji et al., 1989,
1994a). Saturated fatty acids have also been reported to reverse established alcoholic liver injury (
Nanji et al., 1995,
1996,
1997b). Importantly, in previous studies, use of alcohol was discontinued at the time that dietary treatment was initiated. This model represented the alcoholic patient who stopped drinking at the time of hospitalization (
French, 1995).
