title: Nonoxidative ethanol metabolism in humans-from biomarkers to bioactive lipids.
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.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biosciences, University of Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Heier
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biosciences, University of Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biosciences, University of Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D000431:Ethanol / Q000378:metabolism*; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D005965:Glucuronates / Q000378:metabolism; D020404:Glycerophospholipids / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008658:Inactivation, Metabolic; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D013463:Sulfuric Acid Esters / Q000378:metabolism; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D005227:Fatty Acids; D005965:Glucuronates; D020404:Glycerophospholipids; D013463:Sulfuric Acid Esters; C051521:phosphatidylethanol; C093924:ethyl glucuronide; D000431:Ethanol; C011612:diethyl sulfate
keywords: ethyl glucuronide; ethyl sulfate; fatty acid ethyl ester; nonoxidative ethanol metabolism; phosphatidylethanol