Molecular mechanisms of ethanol biotransformation: enzymes of oxidative and nonoxidative metabolic pathways in human

Abstract

1. Ethanol, as a small-molecule organic compound exhibiting both hydrophilic and lipophilic properties, quickly pass through the biological barriers. Over 95% of absorbed ethanol undergoes biotransformation, the remaining amount is excreted unchanged, mainly with urine and exhaled air.

2. The main route of ethyl alcohol metabolism is its oxidation to acetaldehyde, which is converted into acetic acid with the participation of cytosolic NAD⁺ - dependent alcohol (ADH) and aldehyde (ALDH) dehydrogenases. Oxidative biotransformation pathways of ethanol also include reactions catalyzed by the microsomal ethanol oxidizing system (MEOS), peroxisomal catalase and aldehyde (AOX) and xanthine (XOR) oxidases. The resulting acetic acid can be activated to acetyl-CoA by the acetyl-CoA synthetase (ACS).

3. It is also possible, to a much smaller extent, non-oxidative routes of ethanol biotransformation including its esterification with fatty acids by ethyl fatty acid synthase (FAEES), re-esterification of phospholipids, especially phosphatidylcholines, with phospholipase D (PLD), coupling with sulfuric acid by alcohol sulfotransferase (SULT) and with glucuronic acid using UDP-glucuronyl transferase (UGT, syn. UDPGT).

4. The intestinal microbiome plays a significant role in the ethanol biotransformation and in the initiation and progression of liver diseases stimulated by ethanol and its metabolite - acetaldehyde, or by lipopolysaccharide and ROS.

Keywords:

• Ethanol metabolism
• oxidative ethanol biotransformation
• non-oxidative ethanol biotransformation
• MEOS
• alcohol and aldehyde dehydrogenases
• catalase
• ethanol esterification and conjugation
• gut microbiome biotransformation of ethanol

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).