The Reliability of Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters (FAEE) as Biological Markers for the Diagnosis of Alcohol Abuse

Giovanni, Nadia De; Donadio, Giuseppe; Chiarotti, Marcello

doi:10.1093/jat/31.2.93

Cited by 34 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…29 However, deviating from our results, the authors detected ethyl oleate only rarely in real cases and could not quantify ethyl stearate because of an unacceptable high detection limit.…”

Section: Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters Analytical Determination Of Fatty Accontrasting

confidence: 92%

Determination of Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters (FAEE) and Ethyl Glucuronide (EtG) in Hair: A Promising Way for Retrospective Detection of Alcohol Abuse During Pregnancy?

Pragst¹,

Yegles²

2008

Therapeutic Drug Monitoring

141

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The retrospective detection of alcohol consumption during pregnancy is an important part of the diagnosis of the fetal alcohol syndrome. A promising way to solve this problem can be the determination of fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE) or/and ethyl glucuronide (EtG) in hair of the mothers. In this article, the present state in analytical determination and interpretation of FAEE and EtG concentrations in hair are reviewed. Both FAEE and EtG are minor metabolites of ethanol and as direct alcohol markers very specific for alcohol. They are durably deposited in hair, which enables taking advantage of the long diagnostic time window of this sample material. In the last years, specific and sensitive methods for determination of both alcohol markers in hair were developed. Headspace solid phase microextraction in combination with gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy after hair extraction with an n-heptane/dimethylsulfoxide mixture proved to be a favorable technique for determination of four characteristic FAEE (ethyl myristate, ethyl palmitate, ethyl oleate, and ethyl stearate). EtG is extracted from hair by water and analyzed either by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy with negative chemical ionization after cleanup with solid phase extraction and derivatization with pentafluoropropionic anhydride or by liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy-mass spectroscopy. The detection limits of the single FAEE as well as of EtG are in the range of 1 to 10 pg/mg. FAEE as well as EtG were determined in a larger number of hair samples of teetotalers, social drinkers, patients in alcohol withdrawal treatment, and death cases with previous known heavy drinking. From the results, the following criteria were derived: strict abstinence is excluded or improbable at C FAEE >0.2 ng/mg or C EtG >7 pg/mg. Moderate social drinkers should have C FAEE <0.5 ng/mg and C EtG <25 pg/mg; above these values, alcohol abuse is probable. Until now, there has been no evaluation in context of FAS diagnosis; however, a successful application for this purpose can be expected from the good experience in driving ability examination.

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“…29 However, deviating from our results, the authors detected ethyl oleate only rarely in real cases and could not quantify ethyl stearate because of an unacceptable high detection limit.…”

Section: Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters Analytical Determination Of Fatty Accontrasting

confidence: 92%

Determination of Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters (FAEE) and Ethyl Glucuronide (EtG) in Hair: A Promising Way for Retrospective Detection of Alcohol Abuse During Pregnancy?

Pragst¹,

Yegles²

2008

Therapeutic Drug Monitoring

141

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“…An objective evaluation of drinking status can be achieved using direct alcohol metabolites, such as EtG and FAEEs [18, 21, 28, 39], which have been shown to be parameters for the mothers‘ alcohol consumption [2, 19, 20, 40, 41]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They can be found in blood, urine, hair, and meconium. Fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE) in meconium have been investigated and established in several studies as biomarkers of fetal ethanol exposure during the last 3 months of pregnancy [1, 18–20]. Additionally, the determination of ethylglucuronide (EtG) not only from the mothers' hair or urine but also from the children's meconium has been associated with the mother's drinking behavior during pregnancy [2, 20–23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meconium Indicators of Maternal Alcohol Abuse during Pregnancy and Association with Patient Characteristics

Goecke

Burger

Fasching

et al. 2014

BioMed Research International

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Aim. Identification of women with moderate alcohol abuse during pregnancy is difficult. We correlated self-reported alcohol consumption during pregnancy and patient characteristics with objective alcohol indicators measured in fetal meconium. Methods. A total of 557 women singleton births and available psychological tests, obstetric data and meconium samples were included in statistical analysis. Alcohol metabolites (fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs) and ethyl glucuronide (EtG)), were determined from meconium and correlated with patient characteristics. Results. We found that 21.2% of the 557 participants admitted low-to-moderate alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Of the parameters analyzed from meconium, only EtG showed an association with alcohol history (P < 0.01). This association was inverse in cases with EtG value above 120 ng/g. These values indicate women with most severe alcohol consumption, who obviously denied having consumed alcohol during pregnancy. No other associations between socioeconomic or psychological characteristics and the drinking status (via meconium alcohol metabolites) could be found. Conclusion. Women who drink higher doses of ethanol during pregnancy, according to metabolite measures in meconium, might be less likely to admit alcohol consumption. No profile of socioeconomic or psychological characteristics of those women positively tested via meconium could be established.

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“…Further, there are pilot studies looking into the possibility of using FA ethylic esters in the hair of individuals in order to detect possible alcohol dependence [21, 22]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elevated oleic acid serum concentrations in patients suffering from alcohol dependence

et al. 2013

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BackgroundAlcohol-induced damages such as brain atrophy and fatty liver are closely related to a disturbed lipid metabolism. In animal models, a linkage between chronic alcohol consumption and changes in fatty acid (FA) composition in various organs and cells is well known and there is some indication that this phenomenon could be linked to behavioural alterations associated with alcohol addiction such as craving. However, the influence of ethanol on secretory FA has not been investigated so far. In this study, we therefore aimed at investigating whether there is a significant change of serum FA composition in patients suffering from alcohol dependence. We compared patients before and after treatment (detoxication) with control individuals who did not suffer from addiction. The roles of age, the duration and intensity of alcohol use and lifestyles were considered.MethodsSerum FA was measured in 73 male ethanol dependent patients before and after alcohol withdrawal in an in-patient setting. Additionally, of this group, 45 patients were matched with 45 healthy male volunteers as controls.ResultsWe found significant differences in the FA composition before and after detoxication as well as between patients and controls. After detoxication, the values changed towards the ones in healthy controls. The main finding during acute alcohol use was an increased oleic acid concentration above the level of the linoleic acid concentration.ConclusionsAn elevated oleic/linoleic acid ratio seems to be a state marker for acute alcohol use and may be a relevant trait marker during detoxification and possibly the subsequent therapeutic measures. The results of this pilot study need to be replicated in a larger study also including female patients. Further, the specificity of this potential biomarker needs to be determined.

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The Reliability of Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters (FAEE) as Biological Markers for the Diagnosis of Alcohol Abuse

Cited by 34 publications

References 20 publications

Determination of Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters (FAEE) and Ethyl Glucuronide (EtG) in Hair: A Promising Way for Retrospective Detection of Alcohol Abuse During Pregnancy?

Determination of Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters (FAEE) and Ethyl Glucuronide (EtG) in Hair: A Promising Way for Retrospective Detection of Alcohol Abuse During Pregnancy?

Meconium Indicators of Maternal Alcohol Abuse during Pregnancy and Association with Patient Characteristics

Elevated oleic acid serum concentrations in patients suffering from alcohol dependence

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