Three years ago, a woman in upstate New York was charged with drunk driving and then exonerated when she proved her high blood alcohol level was the result of a rare condition in which her body brews its own alcohol. At the time, the bizarre story made national headlines. Now, auto-brewery syndrome, as the condition is called, may have helped researchers unlock some of the secrets of a common but little-understood liver disease.
In a new study, scientists discovered that certain strains of a common gut bacteria can produce a ton of alcohol in the body. They also found these bacterial strains might be the connection between ABS and a liver condition known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The findings were published today in the journal Cell Metabolism.
The findings suggest the bacteria could be one cause of this common liver disease — and could be a potential avenue ...
