What is alcoholic liver?

Alcoholic liver is a liver disease caused by long-term heavy drinking. It is known that after entering hepatocytes, ethanol is oxidized to acetaldehyde through three pathways: hepatic ethanol dehydrogenase, catalase and hepatic microsomal ethanol oxidase system. Acetaldehyde has an obvious toxic effect on hepatocytes, which is manifested in that it makes the liver metabolism disorder, leading to degeneration, necrosis and fibrosis of hepatocytes, and in severe cases, cirrhosis.

The pathogenesis of alcoholic liver may be the result of multiple factors, which are described below.① NADH/NAD balance disorder. NADH refers to the coenzyme of fatty acid synthesis, and NAD is the coenzyme of fatty acid oxidation. They cause increased synthesis and reduced decomposition, resulting in a large amount of triglycerides in the liver, causing fatty liver.② Toxic effects of ethanol and acetaldehyde on hepatocytes, causing cell membrane damage.③ Liver cell antigen changes, causing autoimmune reactions.④ Hypoxia. The high catabolic state of ethanol causes hypoxia of hepatocytes and aggravates the damage to hepatocytes.⑤ Promotion of acetaldehyde on collagen synthesis and the stimulation of inflammation on collagen fiber proliferation, causing liver fibrosis.