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. 1999;23(1):40–54.

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Alcohol metabolism in the liver. Alcohol is broken down to acetaldehyde either by alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) or cytochrome P450 (CYP). The acetaldehyde then is broken down to acetic acid and water by two variants of the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). Alcohol metabolism by ADH generates a byproduct called reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH). Excessive NADH levels can inhibit glucose production (i.e., gluconeogenesis) and breakdown (i.e., oxidation) of fat molecules as well as stimulate production of fat molecules.