Vasopressin, angiotensin II and epinephrine elicited the accumulation of phosphatidylethanol in rat hepatocytes exposed to ethanol and of phosphatidate in the absence of ethanol. When isolated liver plasma membranes were exposed to ethanol, GTPγS stimulated the production of phosphatidylethanol whereas phosphatidate was formed in the absence of ethanol. With increasing ethanol concentrations, phosphatidate formation declined whereas phosphatidylethanol production increased. These findings suggest that rat hepatocytes possess a hormone-dependent phospholipase D activity that can also catalyse the formation of phosphatidylethanol.
