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Study: Alcohol is extremely destructive for cellular DNA
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
In our body, ethanol is converted to acetaldehyde, which behaves quite aggressively with respect to DNA. Two groups of proteins stand up for the protection of genes from harmful substances: one of them neutralizes acetaldehyde itself, the other is engaged in repair of damaged DNA.
How long has a person been familiar with alcohol, just as alcohol is diverse in its effects produced in the human body. No sooner had a group of researchers reported that alcohol does not kill brain cells at all, but only weakens the synaptic contacts between them, as scientists from the British Council for Medical Research say something quite the opposite: alcohol is extremely damaging to cellular DNA.
As the researchers write in the journal Nature, acetaldehyde, a byproduct of ethanol processing in our body, can lead to catastrophic DNA damage. And we would die from the first glass if the cells did not have a two-stage protection system: the first stage includes enzymes that neutralize the actual acetaldehyde, the second - a set of proteins that take on emergency repair of damaged DNA. Scientists experimented with pregnant mice, in which both systems were disconnected: in such animals, even a small single dose of alcohol resulted in fetal death; Moreover, in adult mice, death of blood stem cells was observed.
To check the influence of alcohol on the DNA of scientists prompted two groups of information. First, people who suffer from Fanconi syndrome, a severe hereditary disease, are extremely sensitive to alcohol. These proteins do not work proteins responsible for DNA repair, as a result of which acetaldehyde causes irreversible damage to genes, and this leads to blood diseases and cancer. On the other hand, people with congenital intolerance of alcohol are very susceptible to esophageal cancer, while they do not work the acetaldehyde neutralization system. In both cases, the consequences of taking alcohol are expressed in diseases affecting the molecular genetic apparatus of the cell.
The enzyme, deactivating acetaldehyde, and Fanconi proteins prevent DNA damage that underlies either cell death or their cancer degeneration. However, regular use of alcohol can overpower the effect of these protective systems, which, unfortunately, can often be observed in the form of malformations, united by the common name of the fetal alcohol syndrome, which alcoholic parents reward their children.
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