Alcohol Awareness Month
April is Alcohol Awareness Month, sponsored by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Addiction. This year's theme is "Changing attitudes: It's not a 'rite of passage.'"
Essay: A journey to sobriety
Just days before graduating with his Ph.D., pseudonymous health systems researcher Dr. 24hours was arrested for drunk driving. Read his moving essay on his journey to recovery and what it cost him.
Infographic: The biochemistry of alcohol abuse
In an exclusive-to-ASBMB-Today rendering, an undergraduate studying biochemistry demonstrated how alcohol dehydrogenase converts a molecule nicknamed "el feliz" (the happy) into "el doloroso" (the painful). Find out how here.
Journal of Biological Chemistry
News: A link between noncoding RNAs and alcoholic liver disease
What can a study of microRNAs upregulated in a mouse model of alcoholism tell us about the inflammation that leads to alcoholic liver disease? Read about the paper
Research findings: A receptor driving fatty liver disease
Alcoholic liver disease, or steatohepatosis, is a common complication of alcoholism. Scientists late last year reported the identification of a nuclear receptor that drives fat accumulation in the liver in response to ethanol. Read more
Research findings: How alcohol slows healing
Did you know that alcohol can delay the healing of bone fractures? Researchers investigated the molecular mechanism for this effect, which can increase mortality from traumatic injuries. They found that alcohol reduces TGF-beta 1 production in response to the bone remodeling factor osteopontin, which may explain problems with fracture healing. Read more
Molecular & Cellular Proteomics
Research findings: Diagnosing oral cancers
Alcohol use is a major risk factor for cancers of the oral cavity (including tongue, lip, floor of mouth, and hard palate). Scientists in Taiwan used a targeted proteomics assay to discover diagnostic biomarkers for oral cancer. Read more
Journal of Lipid Research
News: Alcohol and hepatitis interact to raise cholesterol
Excessive alcohol use and the viral infection hepatitis B are both known to damage the liver. Researchers recently discovered that alcohol and hepatitis have synergistic effects on the liver, dramatically affecting cholesterol metabolism. Read a brief summary of their research here.
Research findings: Obesity compounds alcohol's effect
Damage to the liver from alcohol can coexist with obesity-related liver diseases. Scientists assayed all lipids in the liver of lean and obese mice after alcohol consumption and found that obesity dramatically increased the inflammation and oxidative stress that alcohol caused. Read more
Classic study: How drinking affects "bad" cholesterol
In this classic article, researchers showed that acetaldehyde, which is produced from ethanol by alcohol dehydrogenase, can react with lipoproteins in the liver. The reaction may explain the dramatically higher very low density lipoprotein cholesterol levels observed in heavy alcohol users. Read more
Research findings: how drinking affects "good" cholesterol
Even though alcohol consumption raises liver fat and cholesterol levels, it is known to slightly reduce the risk of heart disease. In this study, researchers tested the hypothesis that alcohol may change the amount of reverse cholesterol transport, or removal of free cholesterol from the peripheral tissues to return it to the liver. Read more
Enjoy reading ASBMB Today?
Become a member to receive the print edition four times a year and the digital edition weekly.
Learn moreGet the latest from ASBMB Today
Enter your email address, and we’ll send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.
Latest in Science
Science highlights or most popular articles
Institute launches a new AI initiative to power biological research
Stowers investigator Julia Zeitlinger selected to head effort and leverage cutting-edge computational techniques to accelerate scientific discoveries.
From the journals: JLR
Fixation method to quantify brain metabolites. Belly fat and liver disease crosstalk. Stopping heart diseases in schizophrenic patients. Read about the recent JLR papers on these topics.
Does a protein hold the key to Alzheimer’s?
Researchers in Maryland and Massachusetts team up to study how SORL1 promotes tau trafficking and seeding in cells that leads to the neurodegenerative disorder.
Cracking the recipe for perfect plant-based eggs
It involves finding just the right proteins. With new ingredients and processes, the next generation of substitutes will be not just more egg-like, but potentially more nutritious.
MSU researchers leverage cryo-EM for decades-in-the-making breakthrough
Lee Kroos and Ben Orlando have reported the first high-resolution experimentally determined structures of the intramembrane protease SpolVFB.
From the Journals: MCP
Rapid and precise SARS-CoV-2 detection using mass spec. Mapping brain changes from drug addiction. Decoding plant osmotic stress response. Read about recent MCP papers on these topics.