Answer
The hepatocytes of Sam( teetotaler) as well as of Sebastian (alcoholic) have more mitochondria, smooth endoplasmic reticulum and peroxisomes than cells of other organs of their body. This is so because the liver has the important function of detoxifying the blood and these organelles play vital roles in protecting the body against the chemical insults of ethyl alcohol. It follows therefore, that there will be many more peroxisomes and a more expansive SER presence in the hepatocytes of Sebastian than in those of Sam.
Work Step by Step
When ethyl alcohol is ingested it passes into the blood stream from the digestive tract by simple diffusion, in the liver the alcohol is converted to acetaldehyde by cytosolic alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH).Mitochondrial dehydrogenase(ALDH2) then metabolizes acetaldehyde to acetate which may give rise to products like ketone bodies, fatty acids, and sterols. In alcoholics the microsomal ethanol oxidizing system of SER is very active in the conversion of ethanol to acetaldehyde by the action of Cytochrome P450 and catalases. The MEOS and other enzymes are inducible enzyme, so the organelles that produce them increase with increasing amounts of alcohol consumed. Peroxisomes, and SER are more numerous and abundant in Sebastian's hepatocytes than in those of Sam
