DNA Damage and Genetic Mutations: How Alcohol Causes Cancer
Do you ever stop to think about how that one glass of wine, bottle of beer, or fruity, vodka-infused cocktail might be affecting your DNA? A team of researchers from the United Kingdom recently published their findings in the journal, Nature, of how alcohol damages chromosomes and mutates stem cells, which can lead to an increase in the development of seven different types of cancer. Curious about their results? Find out what you need to know now:
The Research
Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, and the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, were able to effectively study how alcohol damages DNA chromosomes and mutates stem cells. Their findings proved that alcohol can inadvertently increase a patient’s risk of developing several types of cancer at some point in their lifetime. In the UK alone, scientists have been able to conclude alcohol contributes to over four percent or 12,000 cases of cancer a year they can link directly to alcohol consumption.
How does alcohol consumption relate to cancer? Keep reading to find out how the experiment was conducted and what cancers are connected to alcohol consumption.
The Experiment
Previous research scientists have done specifically looked at the ways alcohol causes cancer, with an emphasis on studying cell cultures. However, in this recent study, scientists have used mice to show how alcohol consumption can lead to permanent genetic damage and mutation of the cells. They gave ethanol - a diluted alcohol - to mice and used a chromosome analysis and DNA sequencing to explore how and why genetic damage is caused by acetaldehyde, which is a toxic chemical the body produces when it processes alcohol.
What evidence did the researchers find indicating alcohol causes cancer? Learn more about their findings now.
The Findings
Scientists in the UK were able to determine acetaldehyde can break down and permanently damage genetic material within blood stem cells, which can lead to a multitude of issues, such as rearranged chromosomes and alternation of the DNA sequence within these cells. This is a crucial finding, as when healthy DNA within the stem cells is damaged, they give rise to cancer. Professor Ketan Patel who was the senior author of the study stated some cancers could develop due to the DNA damage within stem cells, and although some damage occurs to these cells by fate, drinking alcohol may increase the risk of this damage. Adding further evidence to the claim, The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies alcohol as a Group 1 carcinogen - meaning it causes cancer, in human beings.
How does the body protect itself against DNA damage? Learn more now about its natural defense mechanisms against alcohol!
The Body’s First Natural Defence: ALDH Enzyme
The researchers also analyzed how the body tries to protect itself against damage caused by alcohol consumption. The first form of defense the body uses is aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDH), a family of enzymes that break down harmful acetaldehyde into acetate, which can be converted into energy for the cells. Millions of people around the world either lack these defensive enzymes or have a faulty version of them within the body. Therefore, when alcohol is consumed, acetaldehyde accumulates within the body system, which results in the patient having a flushed complexion and feeling sick. In the study, when mice lacking the ALDH enzyme, also known as ALDH2, were given alcohol, their DNA was damaged four times more than mice with the ALDH2 enzyme.
Curious about the body’s other form of defense? Read more now!
The Body’s Second Natural Defense: DNA Repair Systems
The body’s second natural defense is a variety of cells that create a line of DNA repair systems, which majority of the time, allows the cells to fix and reverse the effects and different types of DNA damage. A word of caution though, as this DNA repair system of cells does not always work, and some patients carry mutations of these cells, which results in the body not being able to repair itself effectively. The study highlights that the body not being able to process alcohol efficiently can result in an even higher risk of DNA damage, which can cause different forms of cancers, such as breast and bowel.