Abstract: Objective To study the effects of polyene phosphatidylcholine on iron homeostaisis in rats with alcoholic liver disease. Methods Thirty wistar rats were randomly divided into control，model and intervention group. The animals were feeded with or without Lieber Decarli liquid in twenty and polyene phosphatidylcholine was given in ten rats. The serum alanine aminotransferase（ALT），aspartate aminotransferase（AST），malonyldialdehyde（MDA），iron，total iron binding capacity（TIBC），ferritin and hepcidin were examined after 6 weeks. Hepatic tissue was assessed by hematoxylin and eosin staining，prussian blue iron staining and immunohistochemisty staining. Results There were no significant differences in serum concentration of iron and TIBC among the three groups（P>0.05）；the levels of serum ALT，AST and ferritin in the model group were respectively 37.9±14.3 U/L，55.0±18.6 U/L and 337.8±132.8 ng/ml，much higher than that in control group（P<0.05，respectively）；the level of serum hepcidin was 124.1±32.0 ng/ml，much lower than in control（P=0.034）；the level of serum MDA in the intervention group was 3.6±2.4 nmol/ml，much lower than that in the model group（P=0.01）；there was no difference in liver iron content among the three groups. Conclusion Alcohol can lead to liver injury and iron overload，and decrease hepcidin expression in liver. Polyene phosphatidylcholine can protect alcohol liver damage by lipid hydroperoxides.

Key words: Alcohol liver disease, Liver damage, Hepcidin, Polyene phosphatidylcholine, Malonyldialdehyde