TRENDS IN ALCOHOLIC LIVER DISEASE RESEARCH – CLINICAL AND SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS Edited by Ichiro Shimizu Trends in Alcoholic Liver Disease Research – Clinical and Scientific Aspects Edited by Ichiro Shimizu Published by InTech Janeza Trdine 9, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia Copyright © 2011 InTech All chapters are Open Access distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license, which allows users to download, copy and build upon published articles even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. After this work has been published by InTech, authors have the right to republish it, in whole or part, in any publication of which they are the author, and to make other personal use of the work. Any republication, referencing or personal use of the work must explicitly identify the original source. As for readers, this license allows users to download, copy and build upon published chapters even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. Notice Statements and opinions expressed in the chapters are these of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of the editors or publisher. No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of information contained in the published chapters. The publisher assumes no responsibility for any damage or injury to persons or property arising out of the use of any materials, instructions, methods or ideas contained in the book. Publishing Process Manager Adriana Pecar Technical Editor Teodora Smiljanic Cover Designer InTech Design Team Image Copyright Sebastian Kaulitzki, 2011. Used under license from Shutterstock.com First published December, 2011 Printed in Croatia A free online edition of this book is available at www.intechopen.com Additional hard copies can be obtained from orders@intechweb.org Trends in Alcoholic Liver Disease Research – Clinical and Scientific Aspects, Edited by Ichiro Shimizu p. cm. ISBN 978-953-307-985-1 free online editions of InTech Books and Journals can be found at www.intechopen.com Contents Preface IX Chapter 1 Alcohol Drinking Patterns and Nutrition in Alcoholic Liver Disease 1 Sabine Wagnerberger, Giridhar Kanuri and Ina Bergheim Chapter 2 Gender Difference in Alcoholic Liver Disease 23 Ichiro Shimizu, Mari Kamochi, Hideshi Yoshikawa and Yoshiyuki Nakayama Chapter 3 Innate Immunity in Alcohol Liver Disease 41 João-Bruno Soares and Pedro Pimentel-Nunes Chapter 4 Endothelial Markers and Fibrosis in Alcoholic Hepatitis 65 Roxana Popescu, Doina Verdes, Nicoleta Filimon, Marioara Cornianu and Despina Maria Bordean Chapter 5 Ethanol-Induced Mitochondrial Induction of Cell Death-Pathways Explored 79 Harish Chinna Konda Chandramoorthy, Karthik Mallilankaraman and Muniswamy Madesh Chapter 6 Cellular Signaling Pathways in Alcoholic Liver Disease 91 Pranoti Mandrekar and Aditya Ambade Chapter 7 Alcoholic Liver Disease and the Survival Response of the Hepatocyte Growth Factor 113 Luis E. Gómez-Quiroz, Deidry B. Cuevas-Bahena, Verónica Souza, Leticia Bucio and María Concepción Gutierrez Ruiz Chapter 8 Hepatic Myofibroblasts in Liver Fibrogenesis 129 Chiara Busletta, Erica Novo, Stefania Cannito, Claudia Paternostro and Maurizio Parola VI Contents Chapter 9 Up-to-Date Insight About Membrane Remodeling as a Mechanism of Action for Ethanol-Induced Liver Toxicity 159 Odile Sergent, Fatiha Djoudi-Aliche and Dominique Lagadic-Gossmann Chapter 10 Crucial Role of ADAMTS13 Related to Endotoxemia and Subsequent Cytokinemia in the Progression of Alcoholic Hepatitis 179 Masahito Uemura, Yoshihiro Fujimura, Tomomi Matsuyama, Masanori Matsumoto, Hiroaki Takaya, Chie Morioka and Hiroshi Fukui Chapter 11 The Role of Liver Transplantation in theTreatment of Alcoholic Liver Disease 205 Georgios Tsoulfas and Polyxeni Agorastou Preface In most Western countries, alcoholic beverages contribute significantly to a person's overall caloric intake. Of greater significance is it's status as the most widely used drug worldwide and addictive properties in addition to the damage it causes to various organs within the human body - in particular the liver. Alcoholic liver disease occurs after prolonged heavy drinking, especially among persons who are physically dependent on alcohol. Not everyone who drinks alcohol to excess develops serious forms of alcoholic liver disease. It is likely that genetic factors determine this individual susceptibility, and a family history of chronic liver disease may indicate a higher risk. Other factors include being overweight (similar to hepatitis C and non- alcoholic fatty liver disease), and iron overload. Women are more susceptible to alcoholic liver disease than men, partly because of differences in the rate of alcohol metabolism, but also for other biological reasons. Alcoholic liver disease encompasses a broad spectrum of diseases, ranging from steatosis (fatty liver), steatohepatitis, fibrosis, and cirrhosis, to hepatocellular carcinoma. There have been major advances in our understanding of the liver, and a growing number of mechanisms underlying alcoholic liver disease continue to pose new challenges. This book presents state-of-the-art information summarizing the current understanding of a range of alcoholic liver diseases. Additionally, key cellular, biochemical, immunological and microstructural mechanisms, and diagnostic and therapeutic advances are also reviewed. The book constitutes a collection of selected clinical and scientific topics. Some chapters treat the cellular, biochemical, immunological, and micro-structural mechanisms underlying alcoholic liver diseases. Some other chapters focus on clinical alcoholic liver disease pathophysiology, related diagnostics, and therapeutic insights. Each of the eleven chapters is followed by a detailed bibliography, enabling the reader to work in depth on specific topics. Collectively, this book represents a broad range of important updated topics. It is hoped that the target readers, such as hepatologists, clinicians, researchers and academicians, will be afforded new ideas and exposed to subjects which extend beyond their own scientific disciplines. In addition, students and all those who wish to X Preface increase their knowledge of advances in the field of alcoholic liver disease will find this book a valuable source of information. My thanks are extended to the authors, the publisher, and most importantly, my family. Ichiro Shimizu, MD, AGAF Showa Clinic, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan [...]... binge drinking and chronic drinking on the liver also markedly differ (for overview see (Zakhari and Li, 2007)) For example, binge drinking may lead to glycogen 2 Trends in Alcoholic Liver Disease Research – Clinical and Scientific Aspects depletion, acidosis and hypoglycemia; whereas chronic drinking results in the development of alcoholic liver damages The differences between these two alcohol drinking... frequency of binge drinking and the intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) including linoleic acid, α-linolenic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid was found; a similar 8 Trends in Alcoholic Liver Disease Research – Clinical and Scientific Aspects association was not found in female binge drinkers (Kim et al 2007) The lower intake of PUFA implies that binge drinking affects the choice of foods (e.g intake... status, whereas in those patients with ascites and oedema creatinine height index is more reliable (Nielsen et al 1993) Furthermore, serum status of vitamins such as A, D, E, and folate as well as minerals like zinc and iron as well as skin turgor, poor oral health and temporal muscle wasting or night 14 Trends in Alcoholic Liver Disease Research – Clinical and Scientific Aspects blindness should also... for England and Ireland In these two countries binge drinking is found to be particularly prevalent in women (Dantzer et al 2006) In terms of age, the prevalence of binge drinking decreases, both in the United States and United Kingdom, with increasing age, indicating that the phenomenon “binge drinking” is as an important problem especially in young people (Institute of Alcohol Studies, 2010) In dependence... Alcohol and cirrhosis: dose response or threshold effect? J.Hepatol 41(1):25-30 18 Trends in Alcoholic Liver Disease Research – Clinical and Scientific Aspects Kanazawa, S & Herbert, V (1985) Total corrinoid, cobalamin (vitamin B12), and cobalamin analogue levels may be normal in serum despite cobalamin in liver depletion in patients with alcoholism Lab Invest 53(1):108-110 Kang, Y.J & Zhou, Z (2005) Zinc... Alcoholic Liver Disease Research – Clinical and Scientific Aspects Wood, B , Breen, K.J (1979) Vitamin deficiency in alcoholism with particular reference to thiamine deficiency Clinical and Experimental pharmacology and Physiology 6:457 Wu, A., Chanarin, I., Slavin, G & Levi, A.J (1975) Folate deficiency in the alcoholic its relationship to clinical and haematological abnormalities, liver disease and folate... important in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease Malnutrition is frequently present Alcohol Drinking Patterns and Nutrition in Alcoholic Liver Disease 15 in patients with alcoholic liver disease and may result from an altered dietary pattern, disturbed intestinal absorption and nutrient utilization in the liver due to the concomitant alcohol metabolism and/ or alcohol-induced impairments of liver. .. antioxidant status in blood from alcoholics Alcohol Clin.Exp.Res 12(6):806-810 Bode, J.C (1980) Alcohol and the gastrointestinal tract Adv Intern Med Ped 45:1-75 Bode, J.C., Bode, C (1992) Alcohol malnutrition and the gastrointestinal tract In: Watson, R.R., Watzl, B (eds) Nutrition and alcohol, CRC Press Boca Raton, pp 403-428 16 Trends in Alcoholic Liver Disease Research – Clinical and Scientific Aspects Burger,... decreased in alcohol consumers with different stages of alcoholic liver diseases (fatty liver, hepatitis, cirrhosis), whereas urinary zinc loss was increased in this patients (Bergheim et al 2003) This is in line with the findings of previous studies, which reported decreased intestinal absorption of zinc (Valberg et al 1985; Dinsmore et al 1985) and increased zinc excretion in urine (Sullivan, 1962) being... drinking patterns are detailed in the following 2.1 Binge drinking The World Health Organization (WHO) defines binge drinking as a pattern of heavy drinking that occurs in an extended period, which is usually defined as more than one day of drinking at a time (WHO, 1994) In the United States (US), the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defined a more common definition that a “binge” . TRENDS IN ALCOHOLIC LIVER DISEASE RESEARCH – CLINICAL AND SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS Edited by Ichiro Shimizu Trends in Alcoholic Liver Disease Research – Clinical and Scientific. see (Zakhari and Li, 2007)). For example, binge drinking may lead to glycogen Trends in Alcoholic Liver Disease Research – Clinical and Scientific Aspects 2 depletion, acidosis and hypoglycemia;. fatty acids (PUFA) including linoleic acid, α-linolenic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid was found; a similar Trends in Alcoholic Liver Disease Research – Clinical and Scientific Aspects 8 association