HTHSCI 1LL3 Lecture 1: Alcohol Metabolism.docx
11 Dec 2014
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Ethanol is metabolized mainly by the alcohol dehydrogenase (adh) enzyme in the cytosol of the liver. Toxic acetaldehyde is the product of alcohol metabolism. Acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (aldh) converts this toxin, in the mitochondria, to non-toxic acetate which can be used by muscle and other tissues as fuel (it is converted to acetyl coa) Too much acetaldehyde in the blood = vomiting etc. Some people have adh that metabolize really quickly (cid:0) more acetaldehyde builds up (cid:0) vomiting. Stage 1: ethanol gets metabolized in the cytosol by adh (alcohol dehydrogenase) enzymes only if it"s a small amount. Stage 2: happens in the mitochondria, acetaldehyde is produced from ethanol (toxic byproduct) If we haven"t drank in great quantity the adh enzymes will metabolize it into acetate (cid:0) goes out in the blood (cid:0) liver picks it up (cid:0) converts it to acetyl coa (cid:0) metabolize that.
