Proceedings of a symposium at the 2001 RSA Meeting in Montreal, Canada; organized and co-chaired by Patricia E. Molina and Manuela Neuman. The presentations were (1) Mechanisms of alcohol-induced cell injury by Craig McClain; (2) Cytokines in alcoholic steatohepatitis and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis by Manuela Neuman; (3) Combination of alcohol and hepatitis C virus and liver injury by Dominique Valla; (4) Chronic ethanol exposure potentiates lipopolysaccharide liver injury, despite inhibiting Jun N-Terminal kinase and caspase 3 activation by Anna Mae Diehl; (5) Glutathione homeostasis in alcoholism: Role in alveolar epithelial barrier and lung injury by David M. Guidot; (6) Metabolic and inflammatory contribution of alcohol to trauma-induced tissue injury by Patricia E. Molina; (7) Growth factor and protein synthesis dysregulation: Role in alcoholic myopathy by Charles H. Lang.