Alcohol Abuse Can Lead to 'Alcoholic Lung'
Posted on: Monday, 6 November 2006, 12:00 CST
Chronic alcohol abuse disrupts the proteins that keep fluid out of the lung, disrupts immune defenses and can lead to alcoholic lung, says a U.S. study.
The findings give insight into how excessive drinking can harm the molecular life of the lung and lead to serious illness, including pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS.
Researchers David Guidot, Pratibha Joshi, Jesse Roman, Lou Ann Brown and Michael Koval of Emory University in Atlanta say alcoholics are more susceptible to pneumonia and more than twice as likely to develop ARDS compared to non-alcoholics. The alcoholic lung has been found to have lower levels of glutathione, an antioxidant that helps protect the lung from oxidative stress.
The researchers also found that alcohol disrupts claudins, a family of proteins that helps maintain a tight air-fluid barrier. This barrier allows air into the lung, while keeping blood and other potentially smothering fluids out, according to Koval.
The findings are being presented at The American Physiological Society lung disease conference in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Source: United Press International
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