Current View on the Mechanisms of Alcohol-Mediated Toxicity

Abstract

Alcohol is a psychoactive substance that is widely used and, unfortunately, often abused. In addition to acute effects such as intoxication, it may cause many chronic pathological conditions. Some of the effects are very well described and explained, but there are still gaps in the explanation of empirically co-founded dysfunction in many alcohol-related conditions. This work focuses on reviewing actual knowledge about the toxic effects of ethanol and its degradation products.

Keywords

• ethanol
• acetaldehyde
• metabolization
• oxidative stress
• toxicity