Effects of Beverages on Alcohol Metabolism: Potential Health Benefits and Harmful Impacts

Abstract

Nonalcoholic beverages are usually consumed accompanying alcoholic drinks, and their effects on alcohol metabolism are unclear in vivo. In this study, the effects of 20 nonalcoholic beverages on alcohol metabolism and liver injury caused by alcohol were evaluated in mice. Kunming mice were orally fed with alcohol (52%, v/v) and beverages. The concentrations of ethanol and acetaldehyde in blood as well as the activities of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) in liver were assessed to indicate alcohol metabolism. The levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) in serum as well as the levels of malonaldehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in liver were measured to reflect the alcohol-induced liver injury. The results showed that the treatment of soda water, green tea and honey chrysanthemum tea could accelerate ethanol metabolism and prevent liver injuries caused by alcohol when companied with excessive alcohol drinking. They might be potential dietary supplements for the alleviation of harmful effects from excessive alcohol consumption. On the contrary, some beverages such as fresh orange juice and red bull are not advised to drink when companied with alcohol consumption due to their adverse effects on ethanol induced liver injury.

Oxidative stress and DNA damage in the mechanism of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

“…(A) Oxidative pathways involve the metabolism of EtOH (1) to acetaldehyde, catalyzed by alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH); (2) to acetaldehyde (producing free radical intermediates), catalyzed by cytochrome P450 (CYP) isoenzyme CYP2E1 and, (3) to acetaldehyde, catalyzed by catalase (Figure ). In the liver and in the stomach, up to 90% of EtOH may be converted by ADH (Wang et al, ). However, recent research suggests that this maybe different in the central nervous system (CNS) where up to 60% of EtOH may be oxidized by catalase (Zimatkin, Pronko, Vasiliou, Gonzalez, & Deitrich, ), followed by ∼20% by CYP2E1 (Zimatkin et al, ), and the remaining by cytosolic ADH and other enzymes (Heit et al, ).…”

Alcoholic Beverage Consumption and Chronic Diseases

“…The acetaldehyde accumulation and the subsequent increased oxidative stress after ethanol administration might play a critical role in the promotion of breast cancer [ 82 ]. In addition, some components in diet might inhibit activity of aldehyde dehydrogenase, which could elevate toxicity of aldehyde [ 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 ].…”

Effects of Food Processing on In Vivo Antioxidant and Hepatoprotective Properties of Green Tea Extracts

“…In order to control potential oxidation of the sample, the low temperature condition was adopted. That is, the 10% (w/v) liver homogenate was prepared by mixing the liver and ice-cold 0.9% normal saline solution in a glass tube that was put in the ice box and the liver was grinded with a glass grinder [29,72,73]. The homogenate of liver was centrifuged at 2500× g for 10 min to obtain the supernatant which was used for the biochemical assays.…”

“…The determination of SOD, CAT, GSH, MDA, TG, and total protein followed the instructions of the Nanjing Jiancheng commercial kits produced by Nanjing Jiancheng Bioengineering Institute, Nanjing, China [29,[72][73][74][75][76]. (1) Determination of SOD activity: the xanthine and xanthine oxidase reacted to produce superoxide radicals.…”