HealthDay News reported May 18 that researcher Patricia Eagon of the Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Pittsburgh Veterans Affairs Medical Center found that female rats given alcohol and a high-fat diet suffered far greater liver damage, as well as other problems, than male rats given the same dose of alcohol and diet. The rats were divided into alcohol and no-alcohol groups, with some fed a low-fat diet and others fed a high-fat diet.

"Our research suggests that women should be cautious about the amount of alcohol they consume, since they're highly susceptible to more severe liver injury than men, and thus to potentially serious complications," said Eagon.

Only the female rats given the high-fat diet showed signs of liver inflammation. "In females, alcohol in the diet along with fish oil injures the intestine, which causes release of factors that contribute to liver injury," Eagon said.

The findings were presented at the annual Digestive Disease Week 2005 conference in Chicago.

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