Ethanol and development of disease and injury to tha alimentary tract

Effects of ethanol on the gastrointestinal tract are reviewed, and an overview of possible mechanisms of ethanol damage to the alimentary tract is presented. Ethanol toxicity most commonly results in metabsorption. Mechanisms contributing to ethanol-induced calcium malabsorption are considered in detail as a prototype for problems encountered in evaluating effects of toxicants on intestinal function. Effects at the local level in the intestine must be differentiated from systemic effects. The mechanism of suppression of calcium absorption by chronic ethanol ingestion differs from that produced by acute administration. Effects of acute administration appear to be due to local mucosal damage and are reversed in 18 hr. Such damage is not present with chronic administration, which affects only duodenal transport. Treatment with vitamin D and its metabolites does not reverse the inhibition of calcium transport. The overall findings suggest that ethanol inhibition of calcium transport is mediated at the intestinal level, probably affecting vitamid D independent mechanisms.