Alcoholic hepatitis: a comprehensive review of pathogenesis and treatment

Alcoholic hepatitis (AH) is an acute hepatic inflammation associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Current evidence suggests that the pathogenesis is the end result of the complex interplay between ethanol metabolism, inflammation and innate immunity. Several clinical scoring systems have been derived to predict the clinical outcomes of patients with AH; such as Child-Turcotte-Pugh score, the Maddrey discriminant function, the Lille Model, the model for end stage liver disease scores, and the Glasgow alcoholic hepatitis score. At present, Corticosteroids or pentoxifylline are the current pharmacologic treatment options; though the outcomes from the therapies are poor. Liver transplantation as the treatment of alcoholic hepatitis remains controversial, and in an era of organ shortage current guidelines do not recommend transplantation as the treatment option. Because of the limitations in the therapeutic options, it is no doubt that there is a critical need for the newer and more effective pharmacological agents to treat AH.