Recent events in alcoholic liver disease V. effects of ethanol on liver regeneration.
Liver regeneration is necessary to recover from alcoholic liver injury. Herein, we review evidence that ethanol interferes with liver regeneration. Briefly, alcoholic fatty livers demonstrate increased rates of hepatocyte death. The latter provides a regenerative stimulus. However, unlike mature hepatocytes in healthy adult livers, most surviving mature hepatocytes in alcoholic fatty livers cannot replicate. Therefore, less mature cells (progenitors) must differentiate to replace dead hepatocytes. Little is known about the general mechanisms that modulate the differentiation of liver progenitors in adults. Delineation of these mechanisms and clarification of how ethanol influences them might suggest new therapies for alcoholic liver disease.
Diehl
Anna Mae
AM
Department of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA. diehl004@mc.duke.edu
D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000633:toxicity*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000633:toxicity*; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development; D008108:Liver Diseases, Alcoholic / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008115:Liver Regeneration / Q000187:drug effects*; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species
D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D000431:Ethanol