Animal models of alcoholic liver disease--focus on the intragastric feeding model.(RESEARCH UPDATE)

From: Alcohol Research & Health | Date: December 22, 2003| Author: French, Samuel W.; Nanji, Amin A. | Copyright information

The use of animal models has contributed to greater understanding of how alcoholic liver disease (ALD) develops, and of how the severity of liver injury is influenced by factors other than alcohol, such as nutrition, oxygen deprivation (as occurs with sleep apnea or smoking), and gene regulation. This article focuses on the use of one animal model in particular, the intragastric feeding model in rats. This model allows scientists to rigorously control an animal's consumption of both...