Accumulation of hepatic collagen following long-term administration of sake to rats.

Sake, a rice wine, induced hepatic collagen accumulation in rats. This was noted after 16 weeks of a liquid diet containing 35% ethanol by caloric content. However, under similar experimental conditions, whiskey and ethanol did not produce any changes. Hepatic collagenase activities in sake-fed rats were slightly, but significantly, higher than in the whiskey group. The central and pericellular liver fibrosis in sake-fed rats was caused possibly by either accelerated collagen synthesis or maturation, exceeding the increased collagen degradation. Mechanisms of enhanced fibrogenesis in sake-fed rats were discussed.