Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2010, 7, 1872-1888; doi:10.3390/ijerph7051872 OPEN ACCESS International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ISSN 1660-4601 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph Review Molecular Basis and Current Treatment for Alcoholic Liver Disease Alejandra Miranda-Mendez 1, Alejandro Lugo-Baruqui 1,2 and Juan Armendariz-Borunda 1,2,* 1 Institute for Molecular Biology in Medicine and Gene Therapy, University of Guadalajara, Jalisco 44281, Mexico; E-Mails: alemirme@hotmail.com (A.M.M.); alecslugo@yahoo.com (A.L.B.) 2 OPD Hospital Civil de Guadalajara, Jalisco 44340, Mexico * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: armdbo@gmail.com; Tel.: +52-33-1058-5317; Fax: +52-33-1058-5318. Received: 18 February 2010 / Accepted: 5 March 2010 / Published: 27 April 2010 Abstract: Alcohol use disorders and alcohol dependency affect millions of individuals worldwide. The impact of these facts lies in the elevated social and economic costs. Alcoholic liver disease is caused by acute and chronic exposure to ethanol which promotes oxidative stress and inflammatory response. Chronic consumption of ethanol implies liver steatosis, which is the first morphological change in the liver, followed by liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. This review comprises a broad approach of alcohol use disorders, and a more specific assessment of the pathophysiologic molecular basis, and genetics, as well as clinical presentation and current modalities of treatment for alcoholic liver disease. Keywords: alcohol; alcoholism; fibrosis; cirrhosis; alcoholic liver disease 1. Introduction Alcohol dependency (AD) is a complex addictive disorder, affecting millions of individuals around the world each year. AD is considered a worldwide public health problem with a direct causal relationship between alcohol consumption and more than 60 different types of disease and injury. Regarding this, the ICD-10 (International Classification of Disease 10th Revision) has reported eight causes of death related to alcohol consumption (Table 1). Most of these causes are related to the