Even a single binge drinking episode — roughly four drinks for women or five for men within about two hours — can weaken the gut lining, according to a study.
The research found that one session of binge drinking can reduce the gut’s ability to prevent bacteria and toxins from entering the bloodstream, a condition commonly referred to as “leaky gut.” The findings were published in the journal Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research.
“We know that excessive drinking can disrupt the gut and expose the liver to harmful bacterial products, but surprisingly little was known about how the upper intestine responds in the earliest stages,” said corresponding author Gyongyi Szabo, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
“Our study shows that even short bouts of binge drinking can trigger inflammation and weaken the gut barrier, highlighting a potential early step in alcohol-related gut and liver injury,” Szabo added.
The study, conducted by researchers from Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in the US, identified how binge drinking damages the gut and why such damage may trigger harmful inflammation long after the last drink.
Scientists examined how short bursts of high-dose alcohol affected different sections of the gut. The results suggested that even brief episodes of heavy drinking cause injury, activating immune cells that are typically reserved for fighting invading pathogens in the gut lining.
Certain immune cells, known as neutrophils, were found to release web-like structures called neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). These NETs can directly damage the upper small intestine and weaken its protective barrier, allowing bacterial toxins to leak into the bloodstream.
When researchers blocked the NETs using a simple enzyme to break them down, they observed fewer immune cells in the gut lining and significantly reduced bacterial leakage, indicating that the enzyme helped prevent gut damage.
— IANS
