The Impact Of Excess Alcohol Consumption On Human Health

Excess alcohol consumption has significant impact on human health and is a major public heal problem worldwide. The consequences of alcohol abuse are associated with alcohol-induced cellular injury in almost all organs and tissues of the organism (1), especially liver by causing the development of alcoholic liver disease (1,2). Additionally, it is well-established that excessive alcohol consumption has harmful effects on the kidney (3,4), with acute kidney injury (AKI) being one of the most common pathological complications (5). Furthermore, there is a tight link between alcoholic liver disease and AKI. For instance, Altamirano et al. (6) demonstrated that AKI is a frequent and early event in patients with alcoholic hepatitis, and Russ et al. (7) reported a prevalence of AKI in patients with advanced liver cirrhosis, a major pathological complication of alcohol abuse.
In addition to these well-established pathophysiological events, evidence acquired in the past recent years indicates that AKI is characterized by significant epigenetic abnormalities, including aberrant DNA methylation, histone modifications, and microRNA (miRNA) expression (13-16); however, there is a lack of knowledge to clarify (i) significance of these changes in AKI and (ii) mechanistic relationship and interplay between different individual epigenetic components in the pathogenesis of