Biomaterial Database

Alcohol Abuse and Pancreatic Diseases: An Overview. 2015

Raffaele Pezzilli

Pancreas Unit, Department of Digestive System, Sant'Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, Via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy. raffaele.pezzilli@aosp.bo.it.

BACKGROUND Alcohol is one of the etiological factors of chronic pancreatitis and there is evidence that acute pancreatitis is the first episode of preexisting chronic pancreatitis and is sometimes not evident from a clinical point of view. The diagnosis of acute pancreatitis is based on the presence of abdominal pain, serum increase of pancreatic enzymes or their presence in urine and/or the presence of alterations of the pancreas imaging. OBJECTIVE To revise actual knowledge on the relationship between alcohol use and pancreatic diseases benign as well as malignant. RESULTS In occasional drinkers, levels of serum amylase were found to be abnormally high in approximately 13% of subjects, while pancreatic isoamylase and lipase were found to be abnormally high in serum in only 2%. The reason might be related to the fact that alcohol can affect the salivary glands. In chronic alcoholics without abdominal pain, amylase and lipase in serum are elevated in 14% of subjects and, in patients with alcoholic acute pancreatitis, pancreatic amylase and isoamylase are elevated in 94% of cases and lipase is generally more sensitive (100% of cases). CONCLUSIONS Chronic abuse of alcohol, but not occasional alcoholic intoxication, causes pancreatic damage. Regarding pancreatic neoplasms, the role of alcohol is under debate in ductal pancreatic adenocarcinoma as well as in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. Few relevant patents are also described in this review.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008049	Lipase	An enzyme of the hydrolase class that catalyzes the reaction of triacylglycerol and water to yield diacylglycerol and a fatty acid anion. It is produced by glands on the tongue and by the pancreas and initiates the digestion of dietary fats. (From Dorland, 27th ed) EC 3.1.1.3.	Triacylglycerol Lipase,Tributyrinase,Triglyceride Lipase,Acid Lipase,Acid Lipase A,Acid Lipase B,Acid Lipase I,Acid Lipase II,Exolipase,Monoester Lipase,Triacylglycerol Hydrolase,Triglyceridase,Triolean Hydrolase,Hydrolase, Triacylglycerol,Hydrolase, Triolean,Lipase A, Acid,Lipase B, Acid,Lipase I, Acid,Lipase II, Acid,Lipase, Acid,Lipase, Monoester,Lipase, Triglyceride
D010190	Pancreatic Neoplasms	Tumors or cancer of the PANCREAS. Depending on the types of ISLET CELLS present in the tumors, various hormones can be secreted: GLUCAGON from PANCREATIC ALPHA CELLS; INSULIN from PANCREATIC BETA CELLS; and SOMATOSTATIN from the SOMATOSTATIN-SECRETING CELLS. Most are malignant except the insulin-producing tumors (INSULINOMA).	Cancer of Pancreas,Pancreatic Cancer,Cancer of the Pancreas,Neoplasms, Pancreatic,Pancreas Cancer,Pancreas Neoplasms,Pancreatic Acinar Carcinoma,Pancreatic Carcinoma,Acinar Carcinoma, Pancreatic,Acinar Carcinomas, Pancreatic,Cancer, Pancreas,Cancer, Pancreatic,Cancers, Pancreas,Cancers, Pancreatic,Carcinoma, Pancreatic,Carcinoma, Pancreatic Acinar,Carcinomas, Pancreatic,Carcinomas, Pancreatic Acinar,Neoplasm, Pancreas,Neoplasm, Pancreatic,Neoplasms, Pancreas,Pancreas Cancers,Pancreas Neoplasm,Pancreatic Acinar Carcinomas,Pancreatic Cancers,Pancreatic Carcinomas,Pancreatic Neoplasm
D011237	Predictive Value of Tests	In screening and diagnostic tests, the probability that a person with a positive test is a true positive (i.e., has the disease), is referred to as the predictive value of a positive test; whereas, the predictive value of a negative test is the probability that the person with a negative test does not have the disease. Predictive value is related to the sensitivity and specificity of the test.	Negative Predictive Value,Positive Predictive Value,Predictive Value Of Test,Predictive Values Of Tests,Negative Predictive Values,Positive Predictive Values,Predictive Value, Negative,Predictive Value, Positive
D011379	Prognosis	A prediction of the probable outcome of a disease based on a individual's condition and the usual course of the disease as seen in similar situations.	Prognostic Factor,Prognostic Factors,Factor, Prognostic,Factors, Prognostic,Prognoses
D012008	Recurrence	The return of a sign, symptom, or disease after a remission.	Recrudescence,Relapse,Recrudescences,Recurrences,Relapses
D004796	Clinical Enzyme Tests	Analyses for a specific enzyme activity, or of the level of a specific enzyme that is used to assess health and disease risk, for early detection of disease or disease prediction, diagnosis, and change in disease status.	Enzyme Tests, Clinical,Clinical Enzyme Test,Enzyme Test, Clinical,Test, Clinical Enzyme,Tests, Clinical Enzyme
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000208	Acute Disease	Disease having a short and relatively severe course.	Acute Diseases,Disease, Acute,Diseases, Acute
D000428	Alcohol Drinking	Behaviors associated with the ingesting of ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, including social drinking.	Alcohol Consumption,Alcohol Intake,Drinking, Alcohol,Alcohol Drinking Habits,Alcohol Drinking Habit,Alcohol Intakes,Consumption, Alcohol,Drinking Habit, Alcohol,Habit, Alcohol Drinking,Habits, Alcohol Drinking,Intake, Alcohol
D000437	Alcoholism	A primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. It is characterized by impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking, most notably denial. Each of these symptoms may be continuous or periodic. (Morse & Flavin for the Joint Commission of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the American Society of Addiction Medicine to Study the Definition and Criteria for the Diagnosis of Alcoholism: in JAMA 1992;268:1012-4)	Alcohol Abuse,Alcoholic Intoxication, Chronic,Ethanol Abuse,Alcohol Addiction,Alcohol Dependence,Alcohol Use Disorder,Abuse, Alcohol,Abuse, Ethanol,Addiction, Alcohol,Alcohol Use Disorders,Chronic Alcoholic Intoxication,Dependence, Alcohol,Intoxication, Chronic Alcoholic,Use Disorders, Alcohol