Pathophysiology of the Effects of Alcohol Abuse on the Endocrine System.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review summarizing human and animal mechanistic literature without systematic search or pooled data.
PubMed 28988577 · doi:10.35946/arcr.v38.2.08
What was done
This review synthesized human and animal literature examining the pathophysiological mechanisms by which alcohol abuse disrupts the endocrine system. The authors examined alcohol's impact across multiple hormonal pathways, including the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal, hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal, hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid, growth hormone/IGF-1, and posterior pituitary axes, alongside effects on the endocrine pancreas and adipose tissue.
What was found
The abstract provides no quantitative data or specific numerical endpoints. It qualitatively reports that alcohol abuse impairs endocrine signaling and cross-talk with the immune and nervous systems, contributing to stress intolerance, reproductive dysfunction, thyroid disturbances, immune abnormalities, and psychological and behavioral disorders.
Why it matters
The paper provides a comprehensive conceptual overview of how chronic alcohol exposure impairs multisystem hormonal regulation, clarifying potential mechanisms underlying related metabolic and systemic clinical disorders.
Limits
The abstract reports no quantitative effect sizes, duration- or dose-response relationships, or specific study counts. As a narrative review, it lacks a systematic search protocol, risk-of-bias evaluation, and clear distinctions between findings derived from animal models versus clinical human studies.
Cited by
- supports Chronic alcohol exposure leads to decreased levels of GnRH, LH, testosterone, and progesterone, alongside increased levels of estrogen/estradiol and FSH.