Can ethanol affect the cell structure? A dynamic molecular and Raman spectroscopy study

Abstract

The role that tobacco consumption plays in the etiology of oral cancer carcinogenesis, and of alcohol consumption acting as a co-factor, have been well established. However, in recent years, the contribution of alcohol consumption alone to oral cancer has been proposed. In fact, a high percentage of patients who develop oral cancer have both habits (tobacco and alcohol consumption), and other small patient groups only consume alcohol or do not have any other identifiable bad habits. In the present study, we demonstrate for the first time, using a combination of dynamic molecular modelling and Raman spectroscopy, that ethanol has a significant effect on oral cells in vitro, mainly interacting with the lipids of the cell membrane, changing their conformation. Thus, it is possible to conclude that ethanol can affect the cell permeability, and by consequence serve as a possible trigger in oral carcinogenesis.

Ethanol induces replication fork stalling and membrane stress in immortalized laryngeal cells

“…Indeed, previous research indicated that ethanol affects cell membrane fluidity and increased permeability. 26 , 80 , 81 Similarly, ethanol is known to cause increased membrane permeability as well as changes in membrane composition in S. cerevisiae . 82 , 83 It is currently unclear if and how ethanol-associated membrane damage could initiate carcinogenesis.…”

Advancements in photodynamic therapy of esophageal cancer

“…Esophageal cancer is the eighth most common form of cancer worldwide. The increased risk factors for developing esophageal cancer include smoking ( 3 , 4 ), the consumption of high-percentage alcohol ( 5 ), obesity ( 6 ), long-term inflammation of the esophagus mucosa ( 7 ), achalasia ( 8 ), atrophic inflammation of the tongue and esophagus ( 9 ), Barrett’s esophagus ( 10 , 11 ), burns of the esophagus with chemicals ( 12 ), occupational exposure to vulcanization products ( 13 ), asbestos and metal dust ( 14 ), dietary factors ( 11 ), vitamin deficiencies ( 15 ) and trace elements, and frequent consumption of hot and pickled foods ( 16 ).…”

Biochemical Profiles of In Vivo Oral Mucosa by Using a Portable Raman Spectroscopy System

“…One of these applications is oral cancer diagnosis. During the progression of cancer, biochemical changes occur within the cancer cells [1], altering the levels of nucleic acids, lipids and carbohydrates that can serve as biomarkers for monitoring diseases [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9].…”

“…For all the aforementioned reasons, a non-invasive, real-time point-of-care method to detect and accurately diagnose cancer and premalignancies at early stages could benefit patients as well as decrease the risk of oral cancer incidence and mortality. One of the most cost-effective methods to diagnose cancer is the optical biopsy [1,3,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. The term optical biopsy is widely used in optical spectroscopy [6,14,[19][20][21][22][23][24], which assists in the diagnostic process and analyzes optical properties [19,[25][26][27] associated with tissue biochemistry [3][4][5][6][7][8][9]14,16,[23][24][25].…”