Year: 2016
Type: article
Abstract: Ethanol is a widely used psychoactive drug whose chronic abuse is associated with organ dysfunction and disease. Although the prevalent metabolic fate of ethanol in the human body is oxidation a smaller fraction undergoes nonoxidative metabolism yielding ethyl glucuronide, ethyl sulfate, phosphatidylethanol and fatty acid ethyl esters. Nonoxidative ethanol metabolites persist in tissues and body fluids for much longer than ethanol itself and represent biomarkers for the assessment of ethanol intake in clinical and forensic settings. Of note, the nonoxidative reaction of ethanol with phospholipids and fatty acids yields bioactive compounds that affect cellular signaling pathways and organelle function and may contribute to ethanol toxicity. Thus, despite low quantitative contributions of nonoxidative pathways to overall ethanol metabolism the resultant ethanol metabolites have important biological implications. In this review we summarize the current knowledge about the enzymatic formation of nonoxidative ethanol metabolites in humans and discuss the implications of nonoxidative ethanol metabolites as biomarkers of ethanol intake and mediators of ethanol toxicity. © 2016 IUBMB Life, 68(12):916-923, 2016.
Source: IUBMB Life
DOI: 10.1002/iub.1569
Authors: Christoph Heier, Hao Xie, Robert Zimmermann
Institution: University of Graz
Language: English
Subfield: Pathology and Forensic Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,430
OpenAlex ID: W2530104279