title: Blood levels of phosphatidylethanol in pregnant women reporting positive alcohol ingestion, measured by an improved LC-MS/MS analytical method.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A reliable biomarker of low alcohol exposure during pregnancy is needed to clarify the controversy on the teratogenicity of low-to-moderate alcohol levels.
  
  
  METHODS
  Blood samples were obtained from 13 pregnant women who self-reported alcohol ingestion between 2.5 and 20 drinks/week, and from 26 controls. Total lipids were extracted, and phosphatidylethanol (PEth) species 16:0/16:0, 16:0/18:1, and 16:0/18:1 were separated by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on a reverse-phase phenyl column. These PEth species were quantified by MS/MS using phosphatidylpropanol as internal standard, with electrospray ionization and MRM.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PEth species were not detected in women who abstained from alcohol ingestion during pregnancy, whereas PEth-16:0/18:1 was > 5 nmol/L in those with positive alcohol ingestion. PEth species were detected for up to 4 weeks after cessation of exposure.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PEth-16:0/18:1 was detected in pregnant women at 4-6 weeks after their last low-to-moderate alcohol ingestion, and therefore appears to be a reliable biomarker of prenatal alcohol exposure to study the teratogenicity of alcohol at these exposure levels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Cheil General Hospital and Women's Healthcare Centre, Kwandong University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ho Seok
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kwak
authors.forename: Jung-Yeol
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Hyun-Kyong
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Min-Hyoung
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hyun-Mee
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.forename: Moon-Young
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hee-Jung
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Dong-Hee
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Chan-Young
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Elvia Y
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Velazquez-Armenta
authors.forename: Alejandro A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Nava-Ocampo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D005260:Female; D020404:Glycerophospholipids / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization / Q000379:methods*; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D020404:Glycerophospholipids; C051521:phosphatidylethanol