title: Bioanalytical procedures and developments in the determination of alcohol biomarkers in biological specimens.
abstract: Excessive alcohol consumption is a global problem, and consequently its evaluation is of great clinical and forensic interest. Alcohol biomarkers have been the focus of several research works in the past decades, with new compounds being studied in more recent years. The main objective of this review is to discuss topics for an analyst to consider when evaluating alcohol consumption through the analysis of alcohol biomarkers in biological specimens. For this, existing alcohol biomarkers will be reviewed, including carbohydrate-deficient transferrin, 5-hydroxytryptophol, ethanol, hemoglobin-associated acetaldehyde, fatty acid ethyl esters, ethyl glucuronide, ethyl sulfate and phosphatidylethanol. Additionally, their potential will be discussed, as well as analytical considerations, main challenges, limitations, data interpretation and existing methodologies for their determination in biological specimens.
authors.affiliation: CICS-UBI - Centro de Investigação em Ciências da Saúde, Universidade da Beira Interior, Avenida Infante D Henrique, 6201-506 Covilhã, Portugal.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Oppolzer
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal e Ciências Forenses - Delegação do Sul, Rua Manuel Bento de Sousa, 3, 1169-201 Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Mário
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barroso
authors.affiliation: CICS-UBI - Centro de Investigação em Ciências da Saúde, Universidade da Beira Interior, Avenida Infante D Henrique, 6201-506 Covilhã, Portugal.
authors.forename: Eugenia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gallardo
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D019963:Clinical Chemistry Tests / Q000379:methods*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D014168:Transferrin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D014168:Transferrin; D000431:Ethanol
keywords: cut-off value; effect-based biomarkers; exposure-based biomarkers; sensitivity; specificity