title: Hepatotoxicity of illegal home-made alcohols.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Alcohol-related hepatotoxicity is not only caused by excessive alcohol consumption but also caused and even accelerated by hepatotoxic ingredients other than ethanol. Concentrations of hepatotoxic substances might be significantly high, particularly in illegally produced home-made alcohols. In this study we aim to analyze the hepatotoxic effects of a home-made alcohol traditionally called "bogma raki" in Turkey.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty Wistar albino male rats were used. Five groups were randomly formed with ten animals in each. Besides laboratory diets, groups were fed as follows: Group 1 (control group) distilled water; Group 2 bogma raki with distilled water (%44 (v/v), 9.2 ml/kg/day); Group 3 bogma raki with distilled water (%44 (v/v), 9.2 ml/kg/day)+walnut (10 g/kg/day); Group 4 whisky with distilled water (%40 (v/v), 9.2 ml/kg/day); Group 5 distilled water + walnut (10 g/kg/day), for 28 days. The toxicological analysis of The spirits were analyzed using Hewlett-Packard (Palo Alto, CA) GC/MS system with HP 6890 gas chromatograph, an HP 5972 mass selective detector (MSD) and an HP 6890 automatic liquid sampler GC/MS; the pressure of the carrier gas helium was 6.0 bar and the split value with a ratio of 1:100. The injection unit temperature set to 250 °C and MS quadrupole temperature set to 280 °C. The MS quadrupole detector ionization energy set to 70 eV. The initial column temperature was 60 °C (for 4 min) programmed by 6 °C/min to final temperature 160 °C and kept for 8 min at 160 °C. Utilized whisky and bogma raki samples were analyzed for the amounts of trans-anethole, ethanol, methanol, 1-propanolol, butanol, 2-butanol, 2-methyl-1-propanolol (isobutanol) and 3-methylbutanol (isoamyl alcohol). Histopathological changes in liver tissues were graded as follows; normal = 0 (<10%), mild = 1 (10%-40%), moderate = 2 (40%-70%), severe = 3 (above 70%).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Chemical composition of illegally produced raki sample (%v/v) was as follows: trans-anethole %1.93, ethanol %95.70, 2-methyl-1-propanolol (isobutanol) %0.19, asetic acid %0.25, 3-methylbutanol (isoamyl alcohol) %0.77, and others %1.16. Chemical composition of commercial whisky sample (%v/v) was as follows: ethanol %97.72, 2-methyl-1-propanolol (isobutanol) %0.57, asetic acid %0.23, 3-methylbutanol (isoamyl alcohol) %1.28, and others %0.2. No traces of trans-anethole were detected in whisky. Normal liver morphology was recorded in control and walnut groups. However, bogma raki caused significant congestion and inflammatory cell infiltration compared to control and walnut group. On the other hand, whisky administration caused mild degeneration including inflammation in a limited area.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Obtained findings suggest that trans-anethole containing alcoholic beverages are more hepatotoxic compared to commercial alcoholic beverages.
authors: Mustafa Kemal University Medical Faculty, Department of Pathology, Hatay, Turkey.
authors: Hasan
authors: H
authors: Gökce
authors: Hacettepe University Medical Faculty, Department of Forensic Medicine, Ankara, 06100, Turkey. Electronic address: akcanmd@hotmail.com.
authors: Ramazan
authors: R
authors: Akcan
authors: Mustafa Kemal University Medical Faculty, Department of Forensic Medicine, Hatay, Turkey.
authors: Adnan
authors: A
authors: Celikel
authors: Mustafa Kemal University Medical Faculty, Department of Forensic Medicine, Hatay, Turkey.
authors: Cem
authors: C
authors: Zeren
authors: Mustafa Kemal University Medical Faculty, Department of Forensic Medicine, Hatay, Turkey.
authors: Ibrahim
authors: I
authors: Ortanca
authors: Mustafa Kemal University Medical Faculty, Department of Forensic Medicine, Hatay, Turkey.
authors: Sumeyra
authors: S
authors: Demirkiran
mesh_terms: D000434:Alcoholic Beverages / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000081248:Allylbenzene Derivatives; D000818:Animals; D000840:Anisoles / Q000737:chemistry; D000440:Butanols / Q000737:chemistry; D056486:Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000737:chemistry; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D023421:Models, Animal; D000439:Pentanols / Q000737:chemistry; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D014421:Turkey
chemical_list: D000081248:Allylbenzene Derivatives; D000840:Anisoles; D000440:Butanols; D000439:Pentanols; D000431:Ethanol; C040507:isobutyl alcohol; C029683:isopentyl alcohol; C006578:anethole
keywords: Bogma raki; Hepatotoxicity; Illegal alcohol; Trans-anethole