Binding of fatty acid ethyl esters to albumin for transport to cells in culture

Fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE) are non-oxidative products of ethanol metabolism that have been proposed to mediate pathological changes in various organs and tissues resulting from excessive ethanol consumption. Evidence supporting this proposal is scant, however, mainly because of the lack of adequate methods with which to solubilize the highly hydrophobic FAEE in aqueous medium for testing under physiological conditions. In this report we describe a simple and practical method for solubilizing FAEE in aqueous medium by binding them to albumin. We also report that the albumin-bound FAEE are readily taken up by rat alveolar macrophages in culture. The availability of FAEE bound to albumin, their main physiological carrier in vivo, will facilitate the investigation of the role that these metabolites may have in mediating pathological changes associated with excess ethanol consumption.