Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0023890 (cirrhosis)
 42,195 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The effects of ethanol on hepatic cellular metabolism and structure depend mainly on the dose and duration of intake. Following the ingestion of a substantial amount of ethanol, its presence alters a number of hepatic functions in part because of the change in the hepatic redox state (NADH/NAD ratio), resulting for instance in reduction of lipid oxidation. Furthermore, chronic ethanol consumption, at least in its early stages, produces adaptive metabolic changes in the endoplasmic reticulum which result not only in increased metabolism of drugs and accelerated lipoprotein production but also in activation of hepatotoxic compounds. Even more extended periods of ethanol intake result in damage to cell organelles in what can be considered a third stage of the alcohol effect namely that of injury. The injury involves primarily mitochondria, possibly as a consequence of effects of acetaldehyde, the first product of ethanol metabolism. Metabolites of ethanol also alter microtubular function. A defect in protein secretion may be the basis for protein retention and "ballooning" of the hepatocyte. Prolongation of ethanol induced injury eventually culminates in hepatic lesions such as alcoholic hepatitis and cirrhosis. Ethanol can be incriminated as a direct etiologic agent of the liver injury, since liver cirrhosis has been reproduced experimentally in baboons fed alcohol, despite an adequate diet.
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PMID:[Pathogenesis of alcoholic liver injury (author's transl)]. 11 23

Iron overload is common in rural sub-Saharan African populations that have the custom of drinking a traditional fermented beverage with high iron content. As with both excessive alcohol exposure and HFE hemochromatosis, hepatic portal fibrosis and micronodular cirrhosis are prominent sequelae of African iron overload. Two observations are therefore important in characterizing iron overload in Africa. First, the hepatic iron concentrations associated with African iron overload often far exceed those seen in alcoholic liver disease and histologic changes of alcohol effect are almost always absent. Second, the pattern of iron accumulation in African dietary iron is prominent in both macrophages and hepatic parenchymal cells; this pattern is in contrast to HFE homochromatosis, which is marked by predominantly parenchymal iron-loading. For a long time, it was thought that African iron overload was purely dietary in nature, that increased iron and alcohol in the diet could fully explain markedly elevated tissue iron levels sometimes seen with this condition. Recent studies of pedigrees suggest that, in addition to high dietary iron content, a genetic defect may also be implicated in iron overload in Africans. These studies indicate that the possible defect is different from mutations in the HFE gene frequently found in Caucasians with iron overload, but the putative gene has not been identified. Recent studies also indicate that non-HFE iron overload occurs in African-Americans, but the prevalence and possible genetic basis is yet to be determined.
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PMID:African iron overload. 1238 1