Elsevier

Medical Hypotheses

Volume 58, Issue 5, May 2002, Pages 411-415
Medical Hypotheses

Regular Article
Alcohol consumption in the absence of adequate nutrition may lead to activation of the glyoxylate cycle in man

https://doi.org/10.1054/mehy.2001.1524Get rights and content

Abstract

The consumption of alcohol prior to food intake results in alcohol metabolism occurring in the liver, and the liver is often damaged in chronic alcoholics. This paper highlights the possibility that alcohol consumption in the absence of adequate nutrition after an extended period of time may lead to activation of the glyoxylate cycle, an energy pathway associated with the conversion of fat into carbohydrate which until recently was thought to only exist in plants and bacteria.

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    Correspondence to: Associate Professor Simon F. Crowe, School of Psychological Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Australia, 3083. Phone: (03)94791380; Fax: (03)94791956; E-mail:[email protected]

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