Presence of Nonoxidative Ethanol Metabolism in Human Organs Commonly Damaged by Ethanol Abuse
- 31 January 1986
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 231 (4737), 497-499
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.3941913
Abstract
Acetaldehyde, the end product of oxidative ethanol metabolism, contributes to alcohol-induced disease in the liver, but cannot account for damage in organs such as the pancreas, heart, or brain, where oxidative metabolism is minimal or absent; nor can it account for the varied patterns of organ damage found in chronic alcoholics. Thus other biochemical mediators may be important in the pathogenesis of alcohol-induced organ damage. Many human organs were found to metabolize ethanol through a recently described nonoxidative pathway to form fatty acid ethyl esters. Organs lacking oxidative alcohol metabolism yet frequently damaged by ethanol abuse have high fatty acid ethyl ester synthetic activities and show substantial transient accumulations of fatty acid ethyl esters. Thus nonoxidative ethanol metabolism in addition to the oxidative pathway may be important in the pathophysiology of ethanol-induced disease in humans.This publication has 19 references indexed in Scilit:
- Blood acetaldehyde concentration gradient between hepatic and antecubital venous blood in ethanol‐intoxicated alcoholics and controls*European Journal of Clinical Investigation, 1984
- Genetic and Biochemical Factors Relevant to AlcoholismAlcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, 1984
- Mitochondrial dysfunction induced by fatty acid ethyl esters, myocardial metabolites of ethanol.JCI Insight, 1983
- >B. HUMAN ALCOHOL DEHYDROGENASE ISOENZYMESAlcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, 1981
- Enzymology of Human Alcohol MetabolismAdvances in enzymology and related subjects of biochemistry, 1977
- The Effect of Prolonged Administration of Ethanol on Cardiac Metabolism and Performance in the DogJCI Insight, 1973
- ENZYMES CATALYSING ETHANOL METABOLISM IN NEURAL AND SOMATIC TISSUES OF THE RATJournal of Neurochemistry, 1972
- Effect of ethanol on metabolism and function of perfused rat heartAmerican Heart Journal, 1969
- Ethanol Oxidation by Hepatic Microsomes: Adaptive Increase after Ethanol FeedingScience, 1968