Induction of malnutrition in chronic alcoholism: role of gastric emptying.

Epidemiological studies reveal that chronic alcoholics exhibiting liver disease are generally malnourished. Experimental studies unequivocally demonstrate that incidence of malnutrition cannot be avoided in animals fed liquid diets containing high concentrations of alcohol. Furthermore, ingestion of additional amounts of macronutrients by such chronically alcoholic animals prevents or regresses alcohol-induced adverse effects despite a continuous intake of high amounts of alcohol. It is thus apparent that high amounts of alcohol intake and malnutrition are necessary factors to produce adverse effects in chronic alcoholism. The mechanism by which malnutrition manifests in chronic alcoholism is, however, not clear. Recent studies have demonstrated, a) an inverse relationship between alcohol and non-alcohol energy intake and its impact on alcohol-induced effects in chronically alcoholic rats, b) a synergism between malnutrition and high doses of alcohol intake in the induction of alcoholemia, and c) that chronic alcoholemia significantly prolongs the delay in gastric emptying. Data obtained from these studies enable us to hypothesize that abnormal prolongation of gastric emptying in alcoholics with chronic alcoholemia may play a major role in the initiation of macronutrient deficiencies leading eventually to the induction of malnutrition.