jcm-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease: Diagnosis and Treatment of Acute and Chronic Conditions

A special issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine (ISSN 2077-0383). This special issue belongs to the section "Gastroenterology & Hepatopancreatobiliary Medicine".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 November 2026 | Viewed by 634

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology with Endoscopy Unit, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland
Interests: liver diseases; biliary tract diseases; diagnostic and procedural endoscopy; digestive system pathologies in pregnancy; gastroenterology; internal medicine

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology with Endoscopy Unit, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland
Interests: alcohol-associated liver disease; chronic liver diseases; portal hypertension; liver cirrhosis; endoscopy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Excessive alcohol intake causes complex damage to the liver and extrahepatic organs of the body, including the brain, pancreas, heart, adipose tissue, muscles, and gastrointestinal tract. As reported by the World Health Organization (WHO), global alcohol consumption is increasing, creating a significant economic, social, and health problem worldwide. According to the WHO’s Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health 2018, in 2016, about 3 million deaths (4% of all deaths) were attributed to alcohol worldwide. A range of mechanisms are involved in the pathogenesis of ethanol-related liver injury; however, they remain incompletely understood. Emerging strategies focus on counteracting oxidative stress, modulating inflammatory and immune signaling, restoring gut–liver homeostasis, and regenerating damaged hepatocytes (i.e., mesenchymal stem cells). Despite intensive research, there is no approved therapy for alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD). Given the heterogeneity of ALD, a multidisciplinary approach addressing metabolism, immunity, and multiorgan crosstalk is essential in mitigating the harmful effects of ethanol and improving patient outcomes.

This Special Issue will highlight the complex impacts of ethanol on the liver and further interactions with extrahepatic organs, as well as potential new diagnostic approaches and therapeutic targets. We warmly invite researchers to submit original research articles and/or reviews in order to widen our knowledge of the complex pathogenesis of ALD and its implications for human health.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Kind regards,

Prof. Dr. Halina Cichoz-Lach
Prof. Dr. Beata Kasztelan-Szczerbińska
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Clinical Medicine is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • alcohol-associated liver disease
  • alcohol-associated hepatitis
  • alcohol-associated liver cirrhosis
  • excessive alcohol intake
  • oxidative liver damage
  • gut–liver axis
  • organ-to-organ crosstalk

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

16 pages, 295 KB  
Article
Serum HMGB1 and Alcohol-Related Liver Disease
by Iwona Popiolek, Piotr Hydzik, Krzysztof Ciszowski, Barbara Balicka-Slusarczyk, Ewa Gomolka, Beata Szkolnicka, Lubomir Skladany, Juan Pablo Arab, Ivica Grgurevic and Michal Kukla
J. Clin. Med. 2026, 15(9), 3397; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm15093397 - 29 Apr 2026
Viewed by 312
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) lacks widely adopted biomarkers that reflect disease activity and severity. High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), a damage-associated molecular pattern, has been implicated in ALD pathogenesis. We evaluated the detectability of circulating HMGB1 in patients with ALD during active [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) lacks widely adopted biomarkers that reflect disease activity and severity. High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), a damage-associated molecular pattern, has been implicated in ALD pathogenesis. We evaluated the detectability of circulating HMGB1 in patients with ALD during active alcohol use and examined clinical associations. Methods: In this observational study, we enrolled hospitalized adults with ongoing ethanol use between 1 November 2023, and 31 December 2024. Controls had no history of excessive alcohol consumption and normal liver biochemistry. Clinical features, laboratory tests, and severity scores (including MELD, MELD-Na, and CLIF-C AD) were recorded. Serum HMGB1 was measured by ELISA; values ≥ 0.08 ng/mL were considered detectable. Results: The cohort included 68 participants (58 with ALD and 10 controls); 29 patients had cirrhosis. HMGB1 was detectable in 32 measurements (42%), with a median concentration of 4.6 ng/mL (IQR, 0.78–10.6; range, 0.08–140.6). Detectable HMGB1 was more frequent in ALD than in controls (47% vs. 11%). Compared with HMGB1-negative patients, HMGB1-positive patients had higher total bilirubin and creatinine levels, prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time, higher white cell counts, and lower serum sodium. Liver enzyme activities and INR did not differ meaningfully by HMGB1 status. MELD, MELD-Na, and CLIF-C AD scores were higher in HMGB1-positive patients. Admission ethanol levels were higher in HMGB1-negative patients. Mortality and readmission did not differ by HMGB1 status. Conclusions: Detectable circulating HMGB1 is present in a subset of patients with ALD and is associated with greater liver disease severity. Full article
Back to TopTop