Mechanisms, biomarkers and targets for therapy in alcohol-associated liver injury: From Genetics to nutrition: Summary of the ISBRA 2018 symposium

The symposium “Mechanisms, Biomarkers and Targets for Therapy in Alcohol-associated Liver Injury: From Genetics to Nutrition” was held at the 19th Congress of International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism on September 13th, 2018 in Kyoto, Japan. The goal of the symposium was to discuss the importance of genetics and nutrition in alcoholic liver disease (ALD) development from mechanistic and therapeutic perspectives. The following is a summary of this session addressing the gene polymorphisms in ALD, the role of zinc in gut–liver axis perturbations associated with ALD, highlighting the importance of dietary fat in ALD pathogenesis, the hepatic n6 and n3 PUFA oxylipin pattern associated with ethanol-induced liver injury, and finally deliberating on new biomarkers for alcoholic hepatitis and their implications for diagnosis and therapy. This summary of the symposium will benefit junior and senior faculty currently investigating alcohol-induced organ pathology as well as undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate students and fellows. •Dietary and genetic factors play major roles in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease.•Urine HPMA and blood P. gingivalis IgA levels may serve as good biomarkers for severe acute alcoholic hepatitis.