Alcoholism: a systemic proinflammatory condition

Excessive ethanol consumption affects virtually any organ, both by indirect and direct mechanisms. Considerable research in the last two decades has widened the knowledge about the paramount importance of proinflammatory cytokines and oxidative damage in the pathogenesis of many of the systemic mani...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:World journal of gastroenterology : WJG Vol. 20; no. 40; p. 14660
Main Authors: González-Reimers, Emilio, Santolaria-Fernández, Francisco, Martín-González, María Candelaria, Fernández-Rodríguez, Camino María, Quintero-Platt, Geraldine
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States 28.10.2014
Subjects:
Alcohol Drinking - adverse effects
Alcohol Drinking - metabolism
Alcohol Drinking - mortality
Alcoholism - diagnosis
Alcoholism - etiology
Alcoholism - metabolism
Alcoholism - mortality
Animals
Cytokines - metabolism
Ethanol - adverse effects
Humans
Inflammation - diagnosis
Inflammation - etiology
Inflammation - metabolism
Inflammation - mortality
Inflammation Mediators - metabolism
Liver - drug effects
Liver - metabolism
Liver - pathology
Liver Diseases, Alcoholic - diagnosis
Liver Diseases, Alcoholic - etiology
Liver Diseases, Alcoholic - metabolism
Liver Diseases, Alcoholic - mortality
Oxidative Stress - drug effects
Prognosis
Reactive Oxygen Species - metabolism
Risk Assessment
Risk Factors
Brain
Cytokines
Oxidative damage
Alcoholism
Chronic pancreatitis
Lung
Atherosclerosis
Sepsis
Muscle
Bone
Alcoholic liver disease
ISSN:2219-2840, 2219-2840
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Summary:Excessive ethanol consumption affects virtually any organ, both by indirect and direct mechanisms. Considerable research in the last two decades has widened the knowledge about the paramount importance of proinflammatory cytokines and oxidative damage in the pathogenesis of many of the systemic manifestations of alcoholism. These cytokines derive primarily from activated Kupffer cells exposed to Gram-negative intestinal bacteria, which reach the liver in supra-physiological amounts due to ethanol-mediated increased gut permeability. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) that enhance the inflammatory response are generated both by activation of Kupffer cells and by the direct metabolic effects of ethanol. The effects of this increased cytokine secretion and ROS generation lie far beyond liver damage. In addition to the classic consequences of endotoxemia associated with liver cirrhosis that were described several decades ago, important research in the last ten years has shown that cytokines may also induce damage in remote organs such as brain, bone, muscle, heart, lung, gonads, peripheral nerve, and pancreas. These effects are even seen in alcoholics without significant liver disease. Therefore, alcoholism can be viewed as an inflammatory condition, a concept which opens the possibility of using new therapeutic weapons to treat some of the complications of this devastating and frequent disease. In this review we examine some of the most outstanding consequences of the altered cytokine regulation that occurs in alcoholics in organs other than the liver.
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ISSN:2219-2840
2219-2840
DOI:10.3748/wjg.v20.i40.14660