Alcoholic Hepatitis – A Fatal Disease

Abstract

Liver is the vital organ that metabolizes and excretes nutrients. Failure of the liver leads to death in cases. The complication which causes liver failure is excessive alcohol consumption. Liver metabolizes ethanol and it faces the highest degree of injury by uncontrolled drinking. Alcohol use produces a broad spectrum of diseases; hepatosteatosis, Alcoholic hepatitis, fibrosis & cirrhosis. Pathogenesis of Alcohol related Liver Diseases (ALD) is explained by hepatic lipogenesis, deceleration of hepatic lipid breakdown, defective hepatic lipid export, macrophage induced alcoholic hepatitis (AH), Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) transport into the hepatic bloodstream, Malondialdehyde and acetaldehyde (MAA) adducts formation and hepatocyte stellate cell (HSC) induction. Main symptoms of AH include oxidative stress, metabolism interruption, inflammation, restoration process changes and bacterial byproducts misplacement from the gut into hepatic portal blood circulation. Diagnostic studies of ALD are concluded by medical records, clinical and laboratory declarations. Earlier, Glucocorticoids, Pentoxifylline, TNFα were used in the treatment of AH, alone or combined. Novel treatments include Metadoxine, Caspase inhibitors, Microbiome Modification, Microbial Phage Therapy, and liver transplantation. These treatments are prescribed in combination with addiction psychiatrists, social work, and family counselors. Recent studies confirmed that AH could be prevented by consuming capsaicin daily, which ultimately reduces the global burden.