Excessive alcohol consumption is a significant public health concern, responsible for approximately 6% of all deaths and contributing to 5.1% of the global disease burden. Alcohol use is a major risk factor for over 200 diseases, including liver cirrhosis, pancreatitis, and esophageal cancer, with a particularly high incidence of gastrointestinal diseases.
More than 50% of alcohol-related deaths are caused by gastrointestinal diseases, highlighting the importance of understanding how ethanol affects the digestive system. This review aims to provide an overview of ethanol metabolism and the diseases caused by alcohol consumption, with a focus on the liver, gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, and gallbladder. Liver The liver plays a central role in ethanol metabolism, absorbing about 90% of ingested alcohol.
Ethanol is metabolized to acetaldehyde via alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), and acetaldehyde is further metabolized to acetate, which eventually leads to the production of carbon dioxide and water. Acetaldehyde, a highly toxic compound, can damage liver cells, causing conditions such as steatosis, steatohepatitis, alcoholic hepatitis, fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Chronic alcohol consumption accelerates liver damage, and risk factors like genetic polymorphisms and the type of alcohol consumed play important roles in disease progression.
Females, in particular, are more susceptible to alcohol-induced liver damage due to differences in alcohol metabolism .
