The Effect of Ethanol Treatment on Surface Alkaline Phosphodiesterase I Activity of Cultured Human Mesangial Cells

Human mesangial cells grown in culture have been employed to investigate the interaction between exposure to ethanol and alkaline phosphodiestase I activity at the plasma membrane of intact cells. Chronic exposure of human mesangial cells to ethanol induced a dose-dependent rise in enzyme activity. Similar effect was observed after the treatment of mesangial cells with methanol. Short-term (1-3 h) exposure to ethanol was also found to cause a dose-dependent stimulation in enzyme activity, but an inhibition at concentrations higher than 0.5%. A possible mechanism involving a change in membrane fluidity was proposed for the observed effects of ethanol on mesangial cell surface alkaline phosphodiesterase I. A direct role for ethanol in the pathogenesis of IgA nephropathy was previously suggested, and his study opens a way to understand mesangial cell membrane changes upon ethanol exposure.