The Role of Alcohol Metabolism in the Pathology of Alcohol Hangover
The limited number of available studies that examined the pathology of alcohol hangover focused on biomarkers of alcohol metabolism, oxidative stress and the inflammatory response to alcohol as potentially important determinants of hangover severity. The available literature on alcohol metabolism an...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-10-01
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| Series: | Journal of Clinical Medicine |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/9/11/3421 |
| _version_ | 1797549859459301376 |
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| author | Marlou Mackus Aurora JAE van de Loo Johan Garssen Aletta D. Kraneveld Andrew Scholey Joris C. Verster |
| author_facet | Marlou Mackus Aurora JAE van de Loo Johan Garssen Aletta D. Kraneveld Andrew Scholey Joris C. Verster |
| author_sort | Marlou Mackus |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The limited number of available studies that examined the pathology of alcohol hangover focused on biomarkers of alcohol metabolism, oxidative stress and the inflammatory response to alcohol as potentially important determinants of hangover severity. The available literature on alcohol metabolism and oxidative stress is reviewed in this article. The current body of evidence suggests a direct relationship between blood ethanol concentration and hangover severity, whereas this association is not significant for acetaldehyde. The rate of alcohol metabolism seems to be an important determinant of hangover severity. That is, fast elimination of ethanol is associated with experiencing less severe hangovers. An explanation for this observation may be the fact that ethanol—in contrast to acetaldehyde—is capable of crossing the blood–brain barrier. With slower ethanol metabolism, more ethanol is able to reach the brain and elicit hangover symptoms. Hangover severity was also significantly associated with biomarkers of oxidative stress. More oxidative stress in the first hours after alcohol consumption was associated with less severe next-day hangovers (i.e., a significant negative correlation was found between hangover severity and malondialdehyde). On the contrary, more oxidative stress at a later stage after alcohol consumption was associated with having more severe next-day hangovers (i.e., a significant positive correlation was found between hangover severity and 8-isoprostane). In conclusion, assessment of biomarkers of alcohol metabolism suggests that fast elimination of ethanol is associated with experiencing less severe hangovers. More research is needed to further examine the complex interrelationship between alcohol metabolism, the role of acetaldehyde and oxidative stress and antioxidants, and the pathology of the alcohol hangover. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T15:20:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1259ef3de2d84f25befd97e660bcad66 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-0383 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T15:20:23Z |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Clinical Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-1259ef3de2d84f25befd97e660bcad662023-11-20T18:29:10ZengMDPI AGJournal of Clinical Medicine2077-03832020-10-01911342110.3390/jcm9113421The Role of Alcohol Metabolism in the Pathology of Alcohol HangoverMarlou Mackus0Aurora JAE van de Loo1Johan Garssen2Aletta D. Kraneveld3Andrew Scholey4Joris C. Verster5Division of Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS), Utrecht University, 3584CG Utrecht, The NetherlandsDivision of Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS), Utrecht University, 3584CG Utrecht, The NetherlandsDivision of Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS), Utrecht University, 3584CG Utrecht, The NetherlandsDivision of Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS), Utrecht University, 3584CG Utrecht, The NetherlandsCentre for Human Psychopharmacology, Swinburne University, Melbourne, VIC 3122, AustraliaDivision of Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS), Utrecht University, 3584CG Utrecht, The NetherlandsThe limited number of available studies that examined the pathology of alcohol hangover focused on biomarkers of alcohol metabolism, oxidative stress and the inflammatory response to alcohol as potentially important determinants of hangover severity. The available literature on alcohol metabolism and oxidative stress is reviewed in this article. The current body of evidence suggests a direct relationship between blood ethanol concentration and hangover severity, whereas this association is not significant for acetaldehyde. The rate of alcohol metabolism seems to be an important determinant of hangover severity. That is, fast elimination of ethanol is associated with experiencing less severe hangovers. An explanation for this observation may be the fact that ethanol—in contrast to acetaldehyde—is capable of crossing the blood–brain barrier. With slower ethanol metabolism, more ethanol is able to reach the brain and elicit hangover symptoms. Hangover severity was also significantly associated with biomarkers of oxidative stress. More oxidative stress in the first hours after alcohol consumption was associated with less severe next-day hangovers (i.e., a significant negative correlation was found between hangover severity and malondialdehyde). On the contrary, more oxidative stress at a later stage after alcohol consumption was associated with having more severe next-day hangovers (i.e., a significant positive correlation was found between hangover severity and 8-isoprostane). In conclusion, assessment of biomarkers of alcohol metabolism suggests that fast elimination of ethanol is associated with experiencing less severe hangovers. More research is needed to further examine the complex interrelationship between alcohol metabolism, the role of acetaldehyde and oxidative stress and antioxidants, and the pathology of the alcohol hangover.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/9/11/3421alcoholhangoverethanolacetaldehydeacetateoxidative stress |
| spellingShingle | Marlou Mackus Aurora JAE van de Loo Johan Garssen Aletta D. Kraneveld Andrew Scholey Joris C. Verster The Role of Alcohol Metabolism in the Pathology of Alcohol Hangover Journal of Clinical Medicine alcohol hangover ethanol acetaldehyde acetate oxidative stress |
| title | The Role of Alcohol Metabolism in the Pathology of Alcohol Hangover |
| title_full | The Role of Alcohol Metabolism in the Pathology of Alcohol Hangover |
| title_fullStr | The Role of Alcohol Metabolism in the Pathology of Alcohol Hangover |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Role of Alcohol Metabolism in the Pathology of Alcohol Hangover |
| title_short | The Role of Alcohol Metabolism in the Pathology of Alcohol Hangover |
| title_sort | role of alcohol metabolism in the pathology of alcohol hangover |
| topic | alcohol hangover ethanol acetaldehyde acetate oxidative stress |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/9/11/3421 |
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