Metabolic and Hepatic Effects of Alcohol

Abstract

Although alcohol is best known for its influence on the brain, it actually affects almost every organ system in the body. I shall discuss some of the more important actions of alcohol and some disorders associated with them.That alcohol is metabolized in the liver has been known for many years, but it has only recently become apparent that several pathways may be involved. As shown in Figure 1, the central and major mechanism of alcohol oxidation is a reaction with the cytoplasmic enzyme, alcohol dehydrogenase, with nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) as the cofactor. This reaction leads to the formation of . . .