Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of pentoxifylline （PTX） on ethanol metabolic enzymes and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha （PPAR-α） in C57BL/6 mice with alcoholic liver disease. Methods Sixty-four mice were randomly divided into alcoholic liver disease model， PTX intervention and control group; Acute alcoholic liver injury was induced in mice by intragastric administration with 50% alcohol，and chronic alcoholic liver injury was induced by intragastric administration with 20% alcohol daily for six weeks；Serum alcohol dehydrogenase（ADH） and cytochrome P4502E1 （CYP2E1） activity was measured by colorimetric method；The mRNA levels of ADH，CYP2E1 and PPAR-α were measured by PT-PCR；The protein expression of CYP2E1 and PPAR-α was determined by immunohistochemistry. Results The serum activity of ADH did not differ among mice with acute[（11.2±1.6）U/ml] or chronic[（5.8±1.4） U/ml] alcoholic liver injury and controls[（12.5±1.2）U/ml and（4.3±0.6）U/ml，respectively]；In mice with acute and chronic liver injury，the CYP2E1 activity was（12.2±1.8）U/ml and （11.8±1.7） U/ml，respectively，significantly higher than those in normal controls[（7.9±1.4）U/ml and （6.5±1.2） U/ml，P<0.01）] and those in PTX-intervented mice [（8.1±1.5） U/ml and （7.8±1.5）U/ml，P<0.01]；The relative CYP2E1 positive cells in liver tissues in mice with acute and chronic alcoholic liver injury were （765±21） and （682±25），respectively，significantly higher than those in normal controls [（308±12） and （305±18），P<0.01）] and in mice with high-dosage of PTX intervention [（521±18） and （418±12），respectively，P<0.01]；The mRNA levels of ADH in liver tissues of mice with acute and chronic alcoholic liver injury were similar to that in the controls， however， the relative CYP2E1 mRNA levels[（1.47±0.32） and （1.13±0.52）] were significantly higher than those in normal controls [（0.89±0.23） and （0.45±0.28），respectively，P<0.01）] and in mice with high-dose of PTX[（0.92±0.27） and （0.48±0.32），respectively，P<0.01）];PPAR-α mRNA levels in liver tissues did not differ among mice with acute liver injury and normal controls，however，it was significantly lower than that in normal controls（0.85±0.21） in liver of mice with chronic alcoholic liver injury[（0.45±0.31），P<0.05]；The PPAR-α positive cells in mice of acute and chronic alcohol injury were （322±15） and（262±23），respectively，significantly higher than those in normal controls[（721±18）and （689±14），P<0.01] and in mice with high-dose of PTX intervention[（548±20） and （725±19），P<0.01]. Conclusion PTX attenuates acute or chronic alcoholic liver injury，probably by through up-regulation of CYP2E1 and down-regulation of PPAR-α.

Key words: Alcoholic liver disease, Ethanol metabolic enzymes, Pentoxifylline, Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha, Mice