Ethylglucuronide (EtG) is an important direct metabolite of ethanol arising from the conjugation of ethanol with glucuronic acid. EtG tends to accumulate in hair allowing the diagnosis of long-term alcohol assumption by means of its quantitative determination. The latter analysis is increasingly requested by local medical committees liable of withdrawing the driving licence to alleged heavy alcohol consumers. Recently, an international consensus fixed a cut-off value of 30 pg/mg to discriminate between social and heavy drinkers. We analyzed more than 2000 samples, collected by two medical commissions located in Turin and Cuneo, that including head, pubic, body (chest) and axillary hair. Our aim was to epidemiologically evaluate the distribution of EtG in the examined population, in order to show discrepancies due to: i) sampling region, ii) cut-off applied, iii) geographical origin, and iv) age and gender (when available). In the samples collected, the EtG was determined by HPLC-MS/MS operating in SRM mode. We observed significative statistical differences in EtG concentrations recorded in head (N=1709), axillary (N=268) and pubic hair (N=61) samples, while chest hair (N=33) showed EtG distribution similar to head hair, although the large discrepancy between the dimension of examined populations presently prevents definitive conclusions. The percentage of hair samples classified as positive ranged from 15.9% (30 pg/mg cut-off value) to 10.5% (50 pg/mg cut-off value). Axillary hair samples resulting above 30 pg/mg were 3.0% of the total samples, while positive pubic and chest hair samples were respectively 60.7% and 15.2%. Further statistical elaborations on all samples with measurable EtG concentration (>10 pg/mg; N=600) showed significative variability based on geographical origin, age and gender. The presence of a large variability of ETG concentration, due to sampling region and biological interindividual differences, suggests to responsibly consider a general surveillance policy for the subjects evaluation before any sanction is assigned, although EtG is becoming a common and accurate biomarker to identify social and heavy drinkers.
Epidemiological evaluation of ethyl glucuronide levels in different keratin matrices
PIRRO, VALENTINA;VINCENTI, Marco;A. Salomone
2010-01-01
Abstract
Ethylglucuronide (EtG) is an important direct metabolite of ethanol arising from the conjugation of ethanol with glucuronic acid. EtG tends to accumulate in hair allowing the diagnosis of long-term alcohol assumption by means of its quantitative determination. The latter analysis is increasingly requested by local medical committees liable of withdrawing the driving licence to alleged heavy alcohol consumers. Recently, an international consensus fixed a cut-off value of 30 pg/mg to discriminate between social and heavy drinkers. We analyzed more than 2000 samples, collected by two medical commissions located in Turin and Cuneo, that including head, pubic, body (chest) and axillary hair. Our aim was to epidemiologically evaluate the distribution of EtG in the examined population, in order to show discrepancies due to: i) sampling region, ii) cut-off applied, iii) geographical origin, and iv) age and gender (when available). In the samples collected, the EtG was determined by HPLC-MS/MS operating in SRM mode. We observed significative statistical differences in EtG concentrations recorded in head (N=1709), axillary (N=268) and pubic hair (N=61) samples, while chest hair (N=33) showed EtG distribution similar to head hair, although the large discrepancy between the dimension of examined populations presently prevents definitive conclusions. The percentage of hair samples classified as positive ranged from 15.9% (30 pg/mg cut-off value) to 10.5% (50 pg/mg cut-off value). Axillary hair samples resulting above 30 pg/mg were 3.0% of the total samples, while positive pubic and chest hair samples were respectively 60.7% and 15.2%. Further statistical elaborations on all samples with measurable EtG concentration (>10 pg/mg; N=600) showed significative variability based on geographical origin, age and gender. The presence of a large variability of ETG concentration, due to sampling region and biological interindividual differences, suggests to responsibly consider a general surveillance policy for the subjects evaluation before any sanction is assigned, although EtG is becoming a common and accurate biomarker to identify social and heavy drinkers.
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