Alcohol increases inflammation in the liver and accelerates fibrosis. Or, rather, scarring. To top it off, alcohol increases the risk for liver cancer and death from liver disease. [ 1]
Full Answer
Alcohol is a major risk factor for liver disease in general, and for liver cirrhosis in particular.(1–3) In fact, about half of the liver cirrhosis burden of morbidity and mortality would disappear in a world without alcohol.(4) Mortality from liver cirrhosis has been on the rise in the US(5) and Europe,(6) more so in women than in men.
Furthermore, alcohol breakdown in the liver, both by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase and by an enzyme system called the microsomal ethanol–oxidizing system (MEOS), generates toxic products such as acetaldehyde and highly reactive, and potentially damaging, oxygen–containing molecules.
The liver is often able to fix some of the damage caused by alcohol so you can live a normal life. The scarring from cirrhosis is sometimes partially reversible, and when liver tissue loss is severe enough to cause liver failure, most of the damage may be permanent.
Nutrition therapy, including the use of supplementation and special diets, is often used in the treatment of alcohol-related liver disease. For individuals with advanced alcoholic cirrhosis, their only option may be to get a liver transplant.
The liver breaks down most of the alcohol you drink so that it can be removed from the body. This creates substances that are even more harmful than alcohol. These substances can damage liver cells and cause serious liver disease. Alcohol causes 4 out of 5 deaths from liver disease.
Hepatocyte killing is considered the final step in alcohol-induced liver injury and is linked to oxidative stress resulting from ROS, fatty acid lipotoxicity, unfolded protein response resulting from endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, as well as cytokine effects and mitochondrial injury.
Alcohol causes fat to accumulate in the liver, and this eventually can cause the liver to scar, which can lead to inflammation, as well as cirrhosis, fatty liver disease, and liver cancer.
Alcohol contributes to liver injury through a multitude of ways as depicted. Alcohol is metabolized to acetaldehyde; both alcohol and acetaldehyde have toxic effects on hepatocytes. Damaged hepatocytes in turn release DAMPs that recruit innate and adaptive immune cells that perpetuate further liver injury.
Some degree of fat deposition usually occurs in the liver after short-term excessive use of alcohol. However, fatty liver rarely causes illness (2). In some heavy drinkers, alcohol consumption leads to severe alcoholic hepatitis, an inflammation of the liver characterized by fever, jaundice, and abdominal pain (3).
Do all alcoholics get alcoholic hepatitis and eventually cirrhosis? No. Some alcoholics may suffer seriously from the many physical and psychological symptoms of alcoholism, but escape serious liver damage. Alcoholic cirrhosis is found among alcoholics about 10 to 25 percent of the time.
"Hard liquor contains more alcohol than beer or wine, making it more dangerous for your liver," continues Coleman. "A single shot of 80-proof hard liquor contains about 15 grams of alcohol and most shots contain even more alcohol than this."
Just one alcohol binge or even moderate repeated drinking can lead to alcoholic hepatitis, a condition that causes the liver to become painfully enlarged. According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms of alcoholic hepatitis include: Loss of appetite. Abdominal pain and tenderness.
Heavy ethanol consumption produces a wide spectrum of hepatic lesions, the most characteristic being fatty liver (i.e., steatosis), hepatitis, and fibrosis/cirrhosis (see figure 2).
What causes alcoholic hepatitis? When alcohol gets processed in the liver, it produces highly toxic chemicals. These chemicals can injure the liver cells. This injury can lead to inflammation and, eventually, alcoholic hepatitis.
Ethanol diffuses across the biological membrane by moving through the lipid bilayer itself and by moving through water pores and spaces created by proteins. The driving force to move alcohol across a membrane by diffusion is the concentration gradient.
Alcoholic hepatitis is a condition caused by continued alcohol use that results in long-term (chronic) inflammation in your liver. Alcoholic cirrhosis is an advanced stage of alcoholic liver disease that causes your liver to become stiff, swollen, and barely able to do its job.