Ethanol metabolism in subiects possessing typical and atypical liver alcohol dehydrogenase

Abstract

Ethanol degradation rate (EDR) following intravenous administration of ethanol was determined in 23 subjects prior to abdominal operation. The liver alcohol dehydrogenase ( LA D H) was typed as typical or atypical on a liver biopsy specimen obtained at the time of the operation. Two subjects, one man and one woman, were found to possess the atypical form of LADH. The EDR was lower in women than in men among subjects possessing typical LADH. The male subject with atypical LADH had an EDR closely similar to those of men possessing typical LADH. The female subject with atypical LADH had an EDR significantly higher than that of females possessing typical LADH. Stratumcorneum and urine concentrates contained no LADH activity. Intravenous ethanol infuSion and computation of EDR cannot be used as a phenotyping procedure for LADH for genetic studies. A lcohol dehydrogenase activity cannot be demonstrated in either skin or urine concentrates; therefore, these techniqltes are similarly inapplicable for genetic studies. The results ca~t doubt on the concept that LADH is a rate‐limiting factor in human ethanol metabolism.