[The liver and alcohol]

The liver is the main organ for alcohol metabolism and is therefore predisposed for various functional changes and irreversible alterations. The alcoholic fatty liver represents the early stage of alcohol-induced liver diseases and is completely reversible upon consequent alcohol abstinence. Already at this early stage a significant increase of gamma-glutamyltransferase activities is commonly found in the serum, which can mainly be attributed to an enzyme induction in the endoplasmic reticulum of the liver cell. Other stages of alcohol-induced liver diseases include the alcoholic hepatitis and the liver cirrhosis, which have a better prognosis upon consequent alcohol abstinence compared to continuous alcohol consumption. Many therapeutic studies with various drugs have been carried out in patients with alcohol-induced liver diseases, but at present a treatment with drugs in a sufficiently great number of patients has not been firmly established. The most important medical goal is to establish the diagnosis of alcohol-induced liver diseases already at the early stage of the fatty liver in order to initiate the necessary therapeutic measures with the aim of a consequent alcohol abstinence.