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Obad A, Peeran A, Little JI, Haddad GE, Tarzami ST. Alcohol-Mediated Organ Damages: Heart and Brain. Front Pharmacol 2018; 9:81. [PMID: 29487525 PMCID: PMC5816804 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2018.00081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2017] [Accepted: 01/24/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Alcohol is one of the most commonly abused substances in the United States. Chronic consumption of ethanol has been responsible for numerous chronic diseases and conditions globally. The underlying mechanism of liver injury has been studied in depth, however, far fewer studies have examined other organs especially the heart and the central nervous system (CNS). The authors conducted a narrative review on the relationship of alcohol with heart disease and dementia. With that in mind, a complex relationship between inflammation and cardiovascular disease and dementia has been long proposed but inflammatory biomarkers have gained more attention lately. In this review we examine some of the consequences of the altered cytokine regulation that occurs in alcoholics in organs other than the liver. The article reviews the potential role of inflammatory markers such as TNF-α in predicting dementia and/or cardiovascular disease. It was found that TNF-α could promote and accelerate local inflammation and damage through autocrine/paracrine mechanisms. Unraveling the mechanisms linking chronic alcohol consumption with proinflammatory cytokine production and subsequent inflammatory signaling pathways activation in the heart and CNS, is essential to improve our understanding of the disease and hopefully facilitate the development of new remedies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Sima T. Tarzami
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Howard University, Washington, DC, United States
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Rodriguez A, Chawla K, Umoh NA, Cousins VM, Ketegou A, Reddy MG, AlRubaiee M, Haddad GE, Burke MW. Alcohol and Apoptosis: Friends or Foes? Biomolecules 2015; 5:3193-203. [PMID: 26610584 PMCID: PMC4693275 DOI: 10.3390/biom5043193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2015] [Revised: 11/04/2015] [Accepted: 11/09/2015] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Alcohol abuse causes 79,000 deaths stemming from severe organ damage in the United States every year. Clinical manifestations of long-term alcohol abuse on the cardiac muscle include defective contractility with the development of dilated cardiomyopathy and low-output heart failure; which has poor prognosis with less than 25% survival for more than three years. In contrast, low alcohol consumption has been associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, however the mechanism of this phenomenon remains elusive. The aim of this study was to determine the significance of apoptosis as a mediating factor in cardiac function following chronic high alcohol versus low alcohol exposure. Adult rats were provided 5 mM (low alcohol), 100 mM (high alcohol) or pair-fed non-alcohol controls for 4–5 months. The hearts were dissected, sectioned and stained with cresyl violet or immunohistochemically for caspase-3, a putative marker for apoptosis. Cardiomyocytes were isolated to determine the effects of alcohol exposure on cell contraction and relaxation. High alcohol animals displayed a marked thinning of the left ventricular wall combined with elevated caspase-3 activity and decreased contractility. In contrast, low alcohol was associated with increased contractility and decreased apoptosis suggesting an overall protective mechanism induced by low levels of alcohol exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Rodriguez
- Department of Physiology & Biophysics, College of Medicine, Howard University, 520 W St., NW, Washington, DC 20059, USA.
| | - Karan Chawla
- Department of Physiology & Biophysics, College of Medicine, Howard University, 520 W St., NW, Washington, DC 20059, USA.
| | - Nsini A Umoh
- Department of Physiology & Biophysics, College of Medicine, Howard University, 520 W St., NW, Washington, DC 20059, USA.
| | - Valerie M Cousins
- Department of Physiology & Biophysics, College of Medicine, Howard University, 520 W St., NW, Washington, DC 20059, USA.
| | - Assama Ketegou
- Department of Physiology & Biophysics, College of Medicine, Howard University, 520 W St., NW, Washington, DC 20059, USA.
| | - Madhumati G Reddy
- Department of Physiology & Biophysics, College of Medicine, Howard University, 520 W St., NW, Washington, DC 20059, USA.
| | - Mustafa AlRubaiee
- Department of Physiology & Biophysics, College of Medicine, Howard University, 520 W St., NW, Washington, DC 20059, USA.
| | - Georges E Haddad
- Department of Physiology & Biophysics, College of Medicine, Howard University, 520 W St., NW, Washington, DC 20059, USA.
| | - Mark W Burke
- Department of Physiology & Biophysics, College of Medicine, Howard University, 520 W St., NW, Washington, DC 20059, USA.
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