ALCOHOL METABOLISM

ALCOHOL METABOLISM
Walker has rightly said

'alcohol can be a food, a

drug or a poison
depending on the dose.
 ALCOHOL METABOLISM
Sources
(a)Endogenous Small amounts of alcohol in the
blood may be produced by intestinal flora.

(b) Exogenous Alcohol consumed by pleasure

seekers is absorbed easily all along gastro
intestinal tract and reaches liver.
Site
Liver is the major site of alcohol metabolism.
There are two pathways for alcohol degradation.
 1. Major pathway
 Alcohol is converted to acetate
by the action of two enzymes.

 Cytosolic alcohol dehydrogenase

 Mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase

 Acetyl-CoA may be formed from acetate which

enters TCA cycle or fatty acid biosynthesis.
 2. Minor pathway
 Alcohol is converted to acetaldehyde
by
 Microsomal cytP450-dependent ethanol
oxidizing system.
 It is an induceble pathway and become
prominent in chronic alcoholics.
 Biochemical changes in alcoholism

 The metabolism of alcohol (by both

dehydrogenases) involves the consumption of
NAD+, and consequently a high NADH/NAD+ ratio.
 This is mostly responsible for the metabolic
alterations observed in alcoholism.
1. High concentration of NADH favours the
conversion of pyruvate to lactate which may lead
to lactic acidosis.
2. Hypoglycemia due to reduced gluconeogenesis
is observed. This happens as a result of
decreased availability of pyruvate and
oxaloacetate (the latter gets converted to malate
by high NADH).
3. Citric acid cycle is impaired since the
availabilitv of oxaloacetate and NAD+ is
reduced.
 As a result, acetyl CoA accumulates which
gets diverted towards ketogenesis,
cholesterologenesis, and fatty acid synthesis.
 Accumulation of fats leads to fatty liver and
hyperlipidemia.
4. Increased concentration of serum uric acid
due to its reduced excretion is observed in
alcoholism. This is due to lactic acidosis
5. Acetaldehyde interferes with the functioning
of neurotransmitters, with an overall effect of
neurological depression.
6. Acetaldehyde causes headache, nausea/
tachycardia, reduced blood pressure etc.

Effects of Chronic alcoholism

Cirrhosis Of Liver,
Neurodegenerative Changes,
Cardiomyopathy,
Diuresis,
Impotence etc.
 How much alcohol I can
drink?

 Alcohol consumption should not exceed

moderate drinking.
 Moderation is defined as no more than one
drink per day for women and no more than
two drinks per day for men.
 A drink is defined as 1 regular beer,
 5 ounces of wine (a little over ¹⁄ cup), or
 1.5 ounces of an 80-proof liquor, such as
whiskey.
Pregnant women should drink no alcohol.
 Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)
 The ingestion of alcohol by
pregnant women can result in

 Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is marked by

 prenatal and postnatal growth
deficiency,
 developmental delay, and
 craniofacial,limb, and cardiovascular
defects.