Animals models of gastrointestinal and liver diseases. Animal models of alcohol-induced liver disease: pathophysiology, translational relevance, and challenges

Abstract

Over the last four decades, chronic ethanol feeding studies in rodents using either ad libitum feeding or intragastric infusion models have significantly enhanced our understanding of the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease (ALD). Recently, we developed a chronic plus binge alcohol feeding model in mice that is similar to the drinking patterns of many alcoholic hepatitis patients: a history of chronic drinking and recent excessive alcohol consumption. Chronic+binge ethanol feeding synergistically induced steatosis, liver injury, and neutrophil infiltration in mice, which may be useful for the study of early alcoholic liver injury and inflammation. Using this chronic+binge model, researchers have begun to identify novel mechanisms that participate in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver injury, thereby revealing novel therapeutic targets. In this review article, we briefly discuss several mouse models of ALD with a focus on the chronic+binge ethanol feeding model.

Keywords: alcoholic liver disease; chronic+binge; fatty liver; inflammation.