A Detailed Analysis of Alcohol Pharmacokinetics in Healthy Korean Men. |
Sung Yup Cho, Hye Kyung Han, Kwang Hee Shin, Hyungmi An, Kyung Sang Yu, Byoung Joon Song, Seong Ho Yoo |
1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. 2Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Seoul National University College of Medicine and Hospital, Seoul, Korea. 3Laboratory of Membrane Biochemistry and Biophysics, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Bethesda, MD, USA. 4Institute of Forensic Medicine and Department of Forensic Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. yoosh@snu.ac.kr |
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Abstract |
To determine blood alcohol concentration (BAC) by extrapolation, an understanding of basal pharmacokinetics is indispensable. Breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) has been used for the determination of body alcohol concentration replaced by BAC in Korea. Therefore, the determination of BAC/BrAC ratio is a key problem in alcohol pharmacokinetics. Among several factors, the ingested dose of alcohol and the allelic variation of mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) are the most significant factors influencing the pharmacokinetic parameters, particularly in the absorption and elimination phases. This study shows a detailed pharmacokinetic analysis of BAC and BrAC associated with genetic polymorphism including ALDH2 in 42 healthy Korean men. The change in the alcohol dose ingested influenced the maximum concentration (C(max)), the time to reach C(max) (T(max)), the absorption rate constant (K(01)), the area under the concentration-time curve (AUC(last)), and the hourly elimination rate. The conversion of wild-type 487Glu (ALDH2*1) to 487Lys (ALDH2*2) in human ALDH2 resulted in changes in C(max) (ALDH2*1/*1, 0.03+/-0.01 g/dL [+/-standard deviation] vs. ALDH2*1/*2, 0.05+/-0.004 g/dL [P<0.01]), AUC(last) (ALDH2*1/*1, 4.48+/-2.19 g.min/dL vs. ALDH2*1/*2, 7.52+/-1.26 g.min/dL [P<0.05]), and the BAC elimination rate (ALDH2*1/*1, 0.05+/-0.02 g/L/hr vs. ALDH2*1/*2, 0.09+/-0.01 g/L/hr [P<0.05]). Moreover, the comparison of BAC and BrAC by Bland-Altman plot showed good agreement, suggesting that the measurement of BrAC can be a good alternative for the determination of BAC, particularly in the post-absorption phase. These results provide fundamental information about the pharmacokinetics of alcohol and the determination of BAC in forensics. |
Key Words:
Alcohols, Pharmacokinetics, Korean, Blood, Breath, Alcohols, Concentration |
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