Liver Pathology and Alcohol, 1991 Drug & Alcohol Abuse Reviews Drug and Alcohol Abuse Reviews Series, Vol. 2

Alcohol and other drugs of abuse are major contributing factors to liver disease and its pathology. Alcoholic cirrhosis causes thousands of deaths each year in the United States, and encourages liver replacement. A better understanding of the mechanisms of liver pathology will significantly aid basic researchers and physicians in treating and preventing liver damage. This book is designed especially for those researchers wishing to understand alcoholic liver disease. Therefore the role of alcohol in changing nutrition and its nutritional effects on liver disease are reviewed. The generation of free radicals during alcohol use has been found to be an important cause of membrane changes, of cancer development, and of lipid alterations-and thus of liver pathology. In addition to alcohol, other drugs of abuse, including morphine, cocaine, marijuana, and caffeine have also been shown to be significant contributors to liver pathology. The prevalence of drug and alcohol use and abuse today means that liver disease will continue as a major social and medical problem. The explanation of its biological origins cannot fail to help us better understand and treat the disease in the years to come.

Alcohol and Hepatic Iron Homeostasis.- The Pathogenesis of Inflammation in Alcoholic Liver Disease.- Liver Cell Membrane Adaptation to Chronic Alcohol Consumption.- The Effect of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure on ?-Glutamyl Transpeptidase.- Free Radicals and Alcohol Liver Injury.- Effects of Ethanol on Glutathione Metabolism.- Liver Cancer:Role of Alcohol and Other Factors.- Alcohol and Hepatic Protein Modification.- Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters, Alcohol, and Liver Changes.- Ethanol, Lipoprotein, Metabolism, and Fatty Liver.- Effect of Ethanol on Splanchnic Blood Flow.- Interaction of Ethanol and the Glucocorticoids:Effects on Hepatic Gene Expression.- Genetic and Dietary Control of Alcohol Degradation inDrosophila: Role in Cell Damage.- Human Liver Alcohol Dehydrogenase Gene Expression:Retinoic Acid Homeostasis and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.- Influence of Ethanol on Functional and Biochemical Characteristics of Skeletal Muscle.- Alcohol and Liver Damage:Xanthine Oxidase.- Polymorphisms of Alcohol and Aldehyde Dehydrogenases and Their Significance for Alcohol Liver Diseases.- Effects of Alcohol and Cocaine Abuse on the Antioxidant Systems, Nutritional Status, and Liver Damage.- Caffeine Metabolism:Disposition in Liver Disease and Hepatic-Function Testing.- Marijuana, Liver Enzymes, and Toxicity.- In Vivo Microscopy of the Effects of Ethanol on the Liver.- Interrelationships Between the Brain and the Liver.- Morphine and Liver Damage.