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?
- My smooth endoplasmic reticulum and peroxisomes differ from those of my alcoholic friend. My alcoholic friend has more smooth ER and peroxisomes. Large amounts of smooth ER would be found in my friend's liver cells because one of the main functions of smooth ER is to detoxify ethanol overloads caused by excessive alcohol consumption. On the other hand, peroxisomes in liver cells detoxify alcohol and other harmful compounds by transferring hydrogen from the poisons to oxygen molecules (a process termed oxidation). Therefore, numerous smooth ER and peroxisomes would be required to detoxify alcohol if my friend drinks alcohol frequently and in large amounts.