title: [Biological profile of liver damage in alcoholics (author's transl)].
abstract: It is now possible to pinpoint the biochemical processes responsible for liver damage in alcoholics and to monitor detoxication from a biological point of view. Cirrhosis of the liver is a direct consequence of chronic alcoholism in 60-80 % of cases, and most alcoholics, after several years of drinking, cannot escape the ravages of alcohol, although it is not yet known why a small proportion are not affected biochemically. Psychological deterioration can be explained biochemically, due to the neurotoxic effects of acetaldehyde, formed by alcohol but 20-30 times more toxic, which acts on catecholamines and serotonin with, inter alia, depressant, habit-forming, hallucinogenic and convulsive properties. Hepatic symptoms depend on the stage the alcholic has reached - acute, subacute or the chronic and final stage of cirrhosis of the liver, and include disturbances of transaminases, gamma-GT, serum proteins, immunoglobulins, specific proteins, lipids (including very interestingly an increase in cholesterol-HDL which needs to be investigated further) and hematic changes with FDP and thrombocytes affected, and often anaemia.
mesh_terms: D000079:Acetaldehyde / Q000096:biosynthesis; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology; D001772:Blood Cell Count; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D000431:Ethanol / Q000378:metabolism; D005060:Europe; D006801:Humans; D007136:Immunoglobulins / Q000032:analysis; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008104:Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic / Q000401:mortality; D008108:Liver Diseases, Alcoholic / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013448:Sulfobromophthalein; D014481:United States; D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D001798:Blood Proteins; D007136:Immunoglobulins; D008055:Lipids; D013448:Sulfobromophthalein; D000431:Ethanol; D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase; D000079:Acetaldehyde
vernacular_title: Profil biologique de l'atteinte hépatique chez l'éthylique.