× Didn't find what you were looking for? Ask a question
Top Posters
Since Sunday
c
6
r
4
c
3
m
3
h
3
1
3
n
3
s
3
d
3
c
3
r
3
e
3
New Topic  
Michelle Michelle
wrote...
Posts: 4
Rep: 0 0
11 years ago
I need to know which cellular organelle would have higher than normal quantities in the liver of an alcoholic.  I am having the hardest time figuring this out.
Read 683 times
2 Replies

Related Topics

Replies
wrote...
11 years ago
When alcohol is consumed, it passes from the stomach and intestines into the blood, a process referred to as absorption. Alcohol is then metabolized by enzymes, which are body chemicals that break down other chemicals. In the liver, an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) mediates the conversion of alcohol to acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde is rapidly converted to acetate by other enzymes and is eventually metabolized to carbon dioxide and water. Alcohol also is metabolized in the liver by the enzyme cytochrome P450IIE1 (CYP2E1), which may be increased after chronic drinking (3). Most of the alcohol consumed is metabolized in the liver, but the small quantity that remains unmetabolized permits alcohol concentration to be measured in breath and urine.

Most of the enzymes involved are in the cytoplasm, with the exception of cytochrome P450, which is located in mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum.

Tonoplast exists only in plants cells. Liver cells do not have tonoplast. Peroxisome's main function is fatty acid oxidation.
wrote...
11 years ago
Smooth endoplasmic reticulum

The liver is responsible for filtering and removing toxins and harmful materials from your blood. This is particularly accomplished, by the enzymes produced by the smooth ER, which modify and activate them.  These enzymes are responsible for detoxification, and will remove toxic byproducts of alcohol metabolism.

Smooth ER is closely related to the development of tolerance. As alcoholics continue to drink, they are required to eventually consume more and more alcohol to get the same physiological effect. This is due to the fact that liver cells increase production of smooth ER, which in turn increase production of detoxifying enzymes, as higher and higher levels of alcohol are present in the blood stream. The liver becomes more efficient at processing the alcohol, and the alcoholic therefore has to increase his or her intake to feel the same effect. This is the reason the smooth ER is highly developed in the liver cells of alcoholics.
New Topic      
Explore
Post your homework questions and get free online help from our incredible volunteers
  1139 People Browsing
Related Images
  
 1293
  
 221
  
 391
Your Opinion
What's your favorite math subject?
Votes: 559