Genetic variability of enzymes of alcohol metabolism in human beings

Abstract

Alcohol is eliminated from the body almost entirely by hepatic metabolism, first to acetaldehyde, then to acetate, and finally to carbon dioxide and water. The time course of elimination is best described by Michaelis-Menten kinetics, and rates of elimination following standard doses of ethanol vary among subjects as much as three-fold. Studies comparing rates of elimination in identical and fraternal twins have shown that about half of the variability is attributable to genetic factors. The principal enzymes responsible for ethanol metabolism are alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase. The reaction catalyzed by alcohol dehydrogenase is the rate-limiting step of the pathway. Human livers contain multiple isoenzymes of alcohol dehydrogenase, which are dimeric molecules arising from the association of two subunits encoded by five different structural genes. Genetic polymorphism at two of these gene loci has been described, and all known homo- and heterodimeric forms of the isoenzymes have now been isolated and characterized. Notably, some of them differ quite strikingly in reactivity toward ethanol. Thus a basis for the genetic variability in alcohol metabolic rate can be found in the kinetic properties of the alcohol dehydrogenase isoenzymes. The efficient oxidation of acetaldehyde by hepatic aldehyde dehydrogenase is essential for ethanol oxidation to continue over time, because the equilibrium of the alcohol dehydrogenase reaction favors the conversion of acetaldehyde to ethanol. Acetaldehyde is a very toxic substance the removal of which makes possible the consumption of large quantities of ethanol frequently imbibed by alcoholics. There are also multiple molecular forms of aldehyde dehydrogenase in liver, and the mitochondrial form is the one principally responsible for acetaldehyde oxidation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)