New research shows weekend binge drinking could leave lasting liver damage

Overconsumption of alcohol creates a different kind of liver damage that affects key organ functions

2013-05-01

(Press-News.org) Long after a hangover, a night of bad decisions might take a bigger toll on the body than previously understood. Described in the current issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, a study at the University of Missouri has revealed a unique connection between binge drinking and the risk for developing alcoholic liver disease and a variety of other health problems.

"In our research, we found that binge drinking has a profound effect on the liver in various modes of alcohol exposure," said Shivendra Shukla, PhD, Margaret Proctor Mulligan Professor at the University of Missouri School of Medicine and corresponding author of the study. "No longer can we consider chronic alcohol consumption as the only factor in developing alcoholic liver disease." Shukla said it's important to note there will be more liver injury in a chronic alcoholic if that person binge drinks, but a binge drinker may sensitize the liver over a longer period and make it prone to more damage. MU researchers studied the effects of binge drinking when coupled with chronic alcohol consumption and also in isolated cases of binge drinking not associated with chronic alcohol consumption.

Nationwide and in Missouri, binge drinking is on the rise. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) defines binge drinking for women as having four or more drinks in two hours; for men, it is five or more drinks in two hours. An estimated 29 percent of women and 43 percent of men have reported experiencing at least one binge drinking episode over the course of a year.

Through their study of alcohol exposure in rats, researchers in Shukla's lab found binge drinking amplifies injury to the liver when there was pre-exposure due to chronic alcohol consumption. As the main metabolic site for the body, the liver affects many systems in the body, including nutrient and drug metabolism and distribution, as well as the production of multiple agents that are needed for the heart, kidney, blood vessels and brain to function properly.

"Binge drinking should not be associated with only liver damage," said Shukla, a professor of medical pharmacology and physiology. "It creates an inflammatory response in the liver that is like a cluster bomb, sending out various damaging signals to systems in the body. If those organs are working at a lower level of function, then a whole host of physiological processes is affected." ### END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Breast augmentation patients report high satisfaction rates, says study

2013-05-01

Philadelphia, Pa. (May 1, 2013) – Ninety-eight percent of women undergoing breast augmentation surgery say the results met or exceeded their expectations, according to a prospective outcome study published in the May issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). Women also report improvements in self-esteem and quality of life after breast augmentation, according to the study by ASPS Member Surgeon Dr. Eric Swanson, a plastic surgeon in private practice in Leawood, Kan. The study adds high-quality ...

Traditional ranching practices enhance African savanna

2013-05-01

New Haven, Conn.— That human land use destroys natural ecosystems is an oft-cited assumption in conservation, but ecologists have discovered that instead, traditional ranching techniques in the African savanna enhance the local abundance of wild, native animals. These results offer a new perspective on the roles humans play in natural systems, and inform ongoing discussions about land management and biodiversity conservation. For thousands of years, pastoralists in East African savannas have penned their cattle overnight in brush-walled corrals, called bomas. Bomas remain ...

Half of US plastic surgeons market their practice via social media

2013-05-01

Philadelphia, Pa. (May 1, 2013) – Half of U.S. plastic surgeons are using Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms in their professional practice, according to a survey in the May issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). "Social media platforms represent a dynamic and powerful tool to educate, engage, market to and directly communicate with patients and professional colleagues," writes ASPS Member Surgeon Dr. Reza Jarrahy and colleagues of University of California, Los Angeles. ...

Ferring to present safety analysis for FIRMAGON® (degarelix) at the AUA Annual Meeting

2013-05-01

San Diego, CA, USA, May 1, 2013 – The following data will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Urology Association (AUA) in San Diego, CA: Androgen deprivation therapy by a gonadotropin releasing hormone antagonist, degarelix, lowers the risk of cardiovascular events or death when compared to luteinising hormone-releasing agonists (Abstract 781) Date: Monday, May 6, 2013; 8:00-10:00 AM Session/Type: Prostate Cancer: Advanced (II); Moderated Poster Location: San Diego Convention Center, Room 7 Authors: Peter Albertsen; Bertrand Tombal; Thomas Wiegel; ...

Odor and environmental concerns of communities living near waste disposal facilities

2013-05-01

A recent study involving the University of Southampton has investigated public perception of how waste disposal sites affect residents living nearby. Public opinion of waste management facilities can influence where sites are located and how waste management services are delivered. Obtaining the support of communities around municipal solid waste (MSW) facilities is an important part of the successful operation of these services. One common complaint from local communities concerns unpleasant smells emitted from waste disposal facilities, such as from landfill sites. To ...

Fossil of great ape sheds light on evolution

2013-05-01

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Researchers who unearthed the fossil specimen of an ape skeleton in Spain in 2002 assigned it a new genus and species, Pierolapithecus catalaunicus. They estimated that the ape lived about 11.9 million years ago, arguing that it could be the last common ancestor of modern great apes: chimpanzees, orangutans, bonobos, gorillas and humans. Now, a University of Missouri integrative anatomy expert says the shape of the specimen's pelvis indicates that it lived near the beginning of the great ape evolution, after the lesser apes had started to develop separately ...

Amphibians living close to farm fields are more resistant to common insecticides

2013-05-01

PITTSBURGH—Amphibian populations living close to agricultural fields have become more resistant to a common insecticide and are actually resistant to multiple common insecticides, according to two recent studies conducted at the University of Pittsburgh. In a study published today in Evolutionary Applications, the Pitt researchers demonstrate, for the first time, that tadpoles from populations close to farm fields are more resistant to chlorpyrifos—one of the most commonly applied insecticides in the world, often sold as "Dursban" or "Lorsban." In addition, a related ...

It slices, it dices, it silences: ADAR1 as gene-silencing modular RNA multitool

2013-05-01

RNA, once considered a bit player in the grand scheme by which genes encode protein, is increasingly seen to have a major role in human genetics. In a study presented in the April 25 issue of the journal Cell, researchers from The Wistar Institute discovered how the RNA-editing protein, ADAR1, also combines with the protein called Dicer to create microRNA (miRNA) and small interfering (siRNA). These varieties of RNA, in turn, play a crucial role in gene regulation--silencing or "switching off" the production of specific proteins. Upward of 60 percent of mammalian genes ...

Do students judge professors based on their Facebook profiles?

2013-05-01

New Rochelle, NY, May 1, 2013—More than 800 million people worldwide use the social networking site Facebook, and 93% of college students have an active Facebook account, according to a recent estimate. As both students and faculty on college campuses increasingly use Facebook as a means of communication, the sharing of personal information, likes and dislikes, or religious and political beliefs, for example, may affect what students think of professors and expect from their classes. This phenomenon is explored in a study published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social ...

Temple scientists weaken HIV infection in immune cells using synthetic agents

2013-05-01

(Philadelphia, PA) – HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is notorious for hiding within certain types of cells, where it reproduces at a slowed rate and eventually gives rise to chronic inflammation, despite drug therapy. But researchers at Temple University School of Medicine's Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Center for Substance Abuse Research (CSAR) recently discovered that synthetic anti-inflammatory substances distantly related to the active ingredient of marijuana may be able to take the punch out of HIV while inside one of its major hideouts – immune ...

CMD-OPT model enables the discovery of a potent and selective RIPK2 inhibitor as preclinical candidate for the treatment of acute liver injury

Melatonin receptor 1a alleviates sleep fragmentation-aggravated testicular injury in T2DM by suppression of TAB1/TAK1 complex through FGFR1

Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals Shen-Bai-Jie-Du decoction retards colorectal tumorigenesis by regulating the TMEM131–TNF signaling pathway-mediated differentiation of immunosuppressive dendritic ce

New research shows weekend binge drinking could leave lasting liver damage

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: