Role of acetaldehyde in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease

Abstract

This review will discuss recent advances in the assay of blood and tissue acetaldehyde, alterations in acetaldehyde levels in alcohol abuse and interactions of acetaldehyde with various cellular components, including free radical reactions, with special emphasis on the pathogenesis of hepatic damage. Early attempts to assay blood acetaldehyde, particularly by GLC, have recently been reviewed (Eriksson, 1983; Peters e~ a~., 1987). GLC methods frequently lead to the artefactual formation of acetaldehyde and Eriksson (1983) has suggested that all blood aoetaldehyde is formed following sample collection. We have largely overcome the analytical difficulties of determining ~M quantities of acetaldehyde in the presence of up to 100ram ethanol with the use of trapping reagents to form either coloured (Lynch e~ a~., 1983) or, more recently, fluorescent (Rideout et u~., 1986) derivatives of acetaldehyde. The value of 2,4,dinitrophenyl hydrazone adducts, has been confirmed by other workers (Pezzoli et u~., 1984; Di Padova and Lieber, 1985; Lucas e~ a~., 1986) and other fl~origenic trapping procedures, most notably with 1,3 cyclohexanedions and ammonia, have recently been reported (Peterson and Polizzi, 1987; Ung-Chhtb3 and Collins, 1987).