You do not consume alcoholic beverages, but your friend does, and he consumes these drinks regularly and in large amounts, if we could examine your liver cells and compare with your friend, would we see a difference in smooth ER and peroxisomes?
The peroxisomes neutralize harmful toxins such as alcohol so that they wouldn’t cause further damage to the cells in the body. Situated in the liver cells, peroxisomes undergo internal detoxification as an act of defense against the harmful substances that enter the body. As alcohol makes its way to the liver, the peroxisomes start to oxidize the alcohol to help expel it from the system. A higher concentration of alcohol in the body brought upon excessive consumption will prompt the smooth ER to synthesize and assemble more membrane proteins and lipids to be utilized by the increasing number of peroxisomes. The smooth ER also functions as a second pathway that handles alcohol concentrations in the body, as it also has the ability to detoxify the chemicals in the body.
Due to the nature of his alcohol consumption, his smooth ER would be worn out due to being overworked and there would be more peroxisomes in his liver cells compared to mine. My friend would also be more vulnerable to chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, heart problems, liver problems, and digestion problems.