After reading Dillon's post about the effects of alcohol consumption on the kidney (link below), I became quite curious about the organs that alcohol effects. While Dillon discusses the detrimental effects of alcohol on the kidneys, one organ that he alludes to, unsurprisingly is the liver. As most of us know, the liver is the site for alcohol metabolism. Because of this excessive alcohol indulgence can be quite damaging to the liver. Approximately 20% of heavy drinkers develop fatty liver or steatosis, however, up to 25% of Americans may have non-alcoholic liver disease and liver cancer is on the rise (American Liver Foundation). With stats like these, it begs the question: what types of treatments are out there for liver diseases? Currently treatment involves medication and sometimes surgery. Recently however, a study has shown that prolactin, the hormone that stimulates breast milk production, may be important for liver growth and regeneration.
The researchers used mice that lacked prolactin and compared them to mice that overproduced prolactin. These prolactin overproducers were generated by implanting two extra anterior pituitary glands in the mice's back. The results showed that mice the produced more prolactin had larger livers. These mice also had increased liver cell and liver blood cell production than the other mice. When the livers were removed from the mice, the prolactin-overproducing mice regenerated their livers faster and were more likely to survive after the liver surgeries than the mice that could not produce prolactin.
Prolactin supplementation in liver disease medications could be a step towards more effective treatment for these diseases. Of course, adverse affects of excessive prolactin must be examined. It is interesting, however, that the same hormone that stimulates breast milk may be the same one that stimulates liver regeneration. This is just more proof that physiology is not black and white, but a beautiful shade of ever-changing, crazy gray.
Dillon's post:
http://physioblogology3.blogspot.com/2013/12/why-you-shouldnt-indulge-with-too-much.html
American Liver Foundation Website: http://www.liverfoundation.org/abouttheliver/info/livercancer/
References:
Moreno-Carranza B, Goya-Arce M, Vega C, Adán N, Triebel J, López-Barrera F, Quintanar-Stéphano A, Binart N, Martínez de la Escalera G, Clapp C. 2013. Prolactin promotes normal liver growth, survival, and regeneration in rodents: effects on hepatic IL-6, suppressor of cytokine signaling-3, and angiogenesis. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 305(7): R720-726.
Available at: http://ajpregu.physiology.org/content/ajpregu/305/7/R720.full.pdf
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