Alcoholic liver disease articles from across Nature Portfolio

In this Perspective, Ginès and colleagues discuss liver fibrosis screening programmes using insights from colorectal and lung cancer screening.

Deaths from alcohol-related liver disease have sharply increased following the Covid-19 pandemic. Here, the authors show that binge-pattern alcohol consumption, genetic factors and the presence of diabetes mellitus confer the greatest risk, allowing targeted interventions for high-risk individuals.

Åberg et al. assess the predictive performance of obesity measures, including waist-hip ratio, waist circumference, and BMI, for liver-related outcomes in participants of Finnish health surveys. They find that the waist-hip ratio is a better predictor for liver-related outcomes than other measures and synergizes with harmful alcohol use.

In this Review, Arrese and colleagues discuss the intersection of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and alcohol-related liver disease, including their pathophysiology, clinical management and suggestions for future research.

Analyses of human samples and murine models of alcoholic liver disease (ALD) reveal that the Elk-3 target Abhd10 ameliorates hepatotoxic injury and fibrosis in ALD by downregulating PRDX5 S-palmitoylation.

Ca2+ overload-induced mitochondrial dysfunction is considered a contributing factor alcohol-associated liver disease pathogenesis. Here the authors report that PDK4 promotes Ca2 + -channelling complex formation at the endoplasmic reticulum-mitochondria contact sites, which contributes to the pathogenesis of alcohol-associated liver disease in studies with male mouse and hepatocyte models.

In 2023, there were significant advancements in trials of interventions to reduce mortality and morbidity from alcohol-related liver disease, spanning the entire spectrum of disease: primary prevention to reduce overall alcohol-related harm, secondary prevention to attenuate fibrosis progression and tertiary prevention using antibiotics for severe alcohol-associated hepatitis.

In 2022, we witnessed advances in the field of alcohol-related liver disease. Key developments included the discovery of novel proteomics-based biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets that regulate the recognition of molecules derived from gut microbiota to modulate liver injury. Additionally, there have been significant advances in refining selection for liver transplantation in severe alcohol-associated hepatitis.