Cellular Signaling Pathways in Alcoholic Liver Disease

Introduction: The pathogenesis of acute and chronic alcohol consumption is complex with diverse consequences in different tissues. Alcohol abuse is associated with a continuum of liver abnormalities ranging from steatosis or fat deposition, steatohepatitis or fat plus inflammation to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The progression of alcohol-induced liver damage involves both parenchymal and non-parenchymal cells of the liver. The signaling pathways affected by direct or indirect alcohol exposure range from oxidative stress mechanims, metabolism related effects, inflammation, and apoptosis. Understanding the interactions of inter- and intra-cellular signaling pathways in the liver during alcohol exposure will aid in identification of new integrative approaches as it relates to alcoholic liver disease and provide potential new directions to develop therapeutic target intervention. The goal of this chapter is to review signaling pathways related to oxidative stress and inflammatory responses modulated by alcohol in parenchymal and nonparenchymal cells of the liver important to ALD