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Drinking science: Deuterated ethanol and biochemical booze mimics

2021; American Chemical Society; Volume: 99; Issue: 34 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1021/cen-09934-newscripts

2474-7408

Craig Bettenhausen,

Chemical Reactions and Isotopes

Putting the D in drinking Ethanol gets the blame for hangovers and alcohol-related organ damage, but the main chemical culprit is a different molecule. As a first step in metabolizing ethanol, the body uses a liver enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase to convert it to acetaldehyde, which is toxic. "That acetaldehyde is a very bad actor," medicinal chemist Tony Czarnik tells Newscripts. "It cross-links your proteins, and that results in immune responses" that can cause inflammation, cirrhosis of the liver, esophageal cancer, and other ill effects. Another enzyme, aldehyde dehydrogenase, comes along next and converts acetaldehyde to acetate, a relatively harmless molecule that the body can burn as fuel. The problem is that acetaldehyde can accumulate in between those two enzyme-catalyzed steps, especially when heavy drinking swamps the whole alcohol-metabolizing system. Some people also have genetic factors that decrease the reaction rate or prevalence of aldehyde dehydrogenase. "That kind of got