Ethanol-induced increase in cytosolic estrogen receptors in human male liver: A possible explanation for biochemical feminization in chronic liver disease due to alcohol
✍ Scribed by Erica Villa; Grazia M. Baldini; Gian Paolo Rossini; Claudio Pasquinelli; Dr. Margherita Melegari; Dr. Elisabetta Cariani; Cristina Tata; Dr. Stefano Bellentani; Alberto Ferrari; Federico Manenti
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1988
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 569 KB
- Volume
- 8
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0270-9139
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The hepatic cytosolic estrogen receptor content was measured in liver samples from patients with normal livers and from patients with nonalcoholic cirrhosis, alcoholic cirrhosis and alcoholic hepatitis. The estrogen receptor content of normal liver was 5.2 f 3.5 fmoles per mg of cytosolic protein. Levels which were not significantly different from this were found in the samples from patients with nonalcoholic cirrhosis (2.1 f 2.0 fmoles per mg of cytosolic protein).
The cytosolic estrogen receptor content in the livers of patients with alcoholic cirrhosis who were abstaining was 4.2 f 3.6 fmoles per mg of cytosolic protein, but it increased to 10.4 f 4.9 fmoles per mg of protein in the livers of patients with alcoholic cirrhosis who were drinking, to 17.3 f 8.7 fmoles per mg of protein in the livers of patients with alcoholic hepatitis with cirrhosis and to 22.7 f 15.7 fmoles per mg of protein in the livers of patients with alcoholic hepatitis without cirrhosis.
Alcohol abuse appeared, therefore, to induce an increase in the estrogen receptor content of human liver, especially in patients who were drinking and had histological evidence of acute liver damage (alcoholic hepatitis).
The increase in hepatic estrogen receptor which we have observed may be involved in the molecular mechanisms underlying the feminization of the liver in alcoholic males.
Advanced chronic liver disease (CLD) in male patients often results in marked signs of feminization: gynecomastia, loss of body hair and onset of vascular changes such as spider angiomata or liver palms. In the liver, this feminization is expressed by an increased production of the proteins under estrogen control (ceruloplasmin, sex steroid-binding globulin, thyroxine-binding globulin) ( 1- 3). Additionally, the large majority of these patients is affected by impotence, especially when, as has recently