Alcohol

Overview

Alcohol, in the biomedical sense, refers to ethanol, a small water- and lipid-soluble molecule that acts as a central nervous system depressant and is among the most widely consumed psychoactive substances. Once ingested, ethanol is metabolized chiefly in the liver by alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase to acetaldehyde and then acetate, a pathway whose intermediates and oxidative by-products mediate much of alcohol's tissue toxicity. Acute intoxication impairs coordination, judgement, and consciousness, while sustained heavy use drives a spectrum of harm spanning alcohol use disorder, hepatic injury from fatty liver to cirrhosis, neurochemical and cognitive disturbance, and elevated risk of certain cancers. Research in this area examines biomarkers and liver enzymes associated with alcohol use disorder, genetic polymorphisms that modify susceptibility, and the sex-dependent and inflammatory dimensions of alcohol-related pathology. Allied studies address the duration and mechanisms of the alcohol hangover, the mediating role of alcohol in trauma and psychiatric symptoms, and the metabolic consequences of exposure. The behavioural, neurological, and toxicological dimensions of alcohol make it a recurring focus across clinical and preclinical investigation. The journal publishes peer-reviewed research examining alcohol consumption, its neurochemical and metabolic effects, and associated disorders.

Research published in this journal

12 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.

How this research is being cited

The 12 articles above have been cited 25 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.

• Peripheral biomarkers of neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia
  2026 · Biochemical Pharmacology
• Association of peripheral blood NLRP3, sTREM2, and p-tau217 levels with cognitive outcomes in patients with chronic alcohol-related brain damage
  2026 · Alcohol and Alcoholism
• Seroprevalence and Determinants of Hepatitis B and C Viral Infections Among Pregnant Women Attending Debark General Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia
  2026 · BioMed Research International
• Disruption of LINC00265/miR-101-3p axis using siRNA suppresses growth and promotes apoptosis in laryngeal cancer cells
  2026 · Gene Reports
• Chronic alcohol consumption induces phenotypic and functional alterations consistent with a hyper-inflammatory state in peripheral blood mononuclear cell-derived microglia in a rhesus macaque model
  Hami Hemati et al. · 2025 · Brain, behavior, and immunity
• Chronic alcohol consumption induces phenotypic and functional alterations consistent with a hyper-inflammatory state in peripheral blood mononuclear cell-derived microglia in a rhesus macaque model
  2025 · Brain Behavior and Immunity
• Liver Cirrhosis of Unknown Etiology and Its Predictors in Eastern Ethiopia
  2024 · Risk Management and Healthcare Policy
• The Impact of an Evidence-Based Bundle on Cesarean Section-Related Surgical Site Infections: A Randomized Clinical Trial
  Aditya Gan et al. · 2024 · Maternal-Fetal Medicine

A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Alcohol, linking to each citing work.

This page summarises published research for orientation; it is not medical or professional advice.

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