ONE TEQUILA,TWO

TEQUILA,THREE
TEQUILA, FLOOR!
THE SCIENCE BEHIND A HANGOVER By Dominic Harrison 12031605

Have you ever woken up to the

room spinning, a throbbing headache,
nausea kicking in and a general taste
of displeasure (and possibly vomit) in
your mouth?
If you answered yes, there’s a high
chance you’re suffering from what’s
commonly known as a hangover.
One question I’m sure you’ve asked
yourself (like me) is “why did I drink
so much last night?”. A question
you’ve probably never thought about small intestine. Roughly 90% of
is “what’s the metabolic process that the alcohol is metabolized by
rendered me physically and mentally your body and the other 10% is
unable to function after consuming excreted through sweating,
excessive amounts of alcohol?”. urination and exhaled breath.[1]
Today we dig a little deeper on a Although alcohol can and is
molecular level and find out what metabolized in the brain,
occurs during and after the skeletal muscle and stomach,
consumption of alcohol and how it 90-95% of the heavy lifting is
effects can vary from person to done by the liver.[2]
person. There are three enzymes which
will begin the metabolism
alcohol, all of which are similar
I’ve drunk it now what? but only two are considered to
be major contributors.
After you ingest alcohol it’s
absorbed into the blood stream
(like most foods) via the stomach
and to a much larger degree the
The first and most is through the
enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH)
in which it converts alcohol into
acetaldehyde with the help of the
coenzyme Nicotinamide adenine
dinucleotide (NAD).[3] Acetaldehyde
is a highly toxic substance and needs
to be broken down further, this is
where the enzyme aldehyde
dehydrogenase (ALDH) converts
acetaldehyde into acetate also known
as acetic acid again with help from
NAD. This pathway is used during
moderate intake of
Alcohol. There is a second enzyme
cytochrome P4502E1 which is induced
from chronic alcohol consumption when
there isn’t enough ADH to metabolise
the alcohol.[4]
Why the red face?
Ever had a few drinks a felt a little
flushed? If so there’s a good chance
you’ve got a genetic variation in
2
one of your ADH or ALDH
enzymes, yes that’s right, There
are actually multiple forms of
the ALD and ALDH enzymes.
ADH1B*2 is one of these alleles
that are responsible for a much
more rapid conversion of
ethanol to acetaldehyde. This
rapid conversion results in a
build-up that the body cannot
break down as quick as its being
created.[5] Another is the ALD
allele ALHD2*2, in which the
conversion of acetaldehyde to
acetate is almost non existant
again leading to high levels of
acetaldehyde.[6] both of these
variants are common among
east Asians (Chinese, Japanese
and Koreans) and is thus
commonly termed “Asian flush”
The instant
hangover..
For recovering alcoholics it
can be hard to resist the
temptation to drink, but
rest assured there’s a drug
called Disulfiram(Antabuse)
which all the side effects of
a massive hangover from
small amounts of alcohol
after 10min of
consumption.[6] It works
by inhibiting ALDH which
would normally breakdown
acetaldehyde to acetate,
this inhibition creates a
build-up of acetaldehyde.[7]
1. Victorian state government, 2012,better health channel, viewed 12 may
2017,<http://mapi.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/saywhen/know-the-facts/how-alcohol-works-metabolism-of-
alcohol >

2. Paton, A. 2005, 'Alcohol in the body', BMJ, vol. 330, no. 7482, pp. 85-7.

3. Cederbaum, A.I. 2012, 'ALCOHOL METABOLISM', Clinics in liver disease, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 667-85.

4.Zakhari, S. 2006, 'Overview: how is alcohol metabolized by the body?', Alcohol Research & Health: The
Journal Of The National Institute On Alcohol Abuse And Alcoholism, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 245-54.

5..Israel, Y., Rivera-Meza, M., Karahanian, E., Quintanilla, M.E., Tampier, L., Morales, P. & Herrera-
Marschitz, M. 2013, 'Gene specific modifications unravel ethanol and acetaldehyde actions', Frontiers in
Behavioral Neuroscience, vol. 7, p. 80.

6. U.S Department of health and human services, 2012, medline plus, viewed 10 may 2017, <
https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/meds/a682602.html>

7. Lindros, K.O., Stowell, A., Pikkarainen, P. & Salaspuro, M. 1981, 'The Disulfiram (Antabuse)-Alcohol
Reaction in Male Alcoholics: Its Efficient Management by 4-Methylpyrazole', Alcoholism: Clinical and
Experimental Research, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 528-30.