Ethyl glucuronide and ethyl sulfate: a review of their roles in forensic toxicology analysis of alcohol postmortem

Background:Ethyl alcohol is the most popular legal drug, but its excessive consumption causes social problems. Despite many public campaigns against alcohol use, car accidents, instances of aggressive behaviour, sexual assaults and deterioration in labor productivity caused by inebriated people is still commonplace. Fast and easy diagnosis of alcohol consumption is required in order to introduce proper and effective therapy, and is crucial in forensic toxicology analysis. The easiest method to prove alcohol intake is determination of ethanol in body fluids or in breath. However, since ethanol is rapidly metabolized in the human organism, only recent consumption can be detected using this method. Because of that, the determination of alcohol biomarkers was introduced for monitoring alcohol consumption over a wider range of time.Objective:The objective of this study was to review published studies focusing on the sample preparation methods and chromatographic or biochemical techniques for the determination of alcohol biomarkers in whole blood, plasma, serum and urine.Methods:An electronic literature search was performed to discuss possibilities and limitations of application of alcohol biomarkers in toxicological analysis.Results:Authors described the markers of alcohol consumption such as: ethanol, its nonoxidative metabolites (ethyl glucuronide, ethyl sulfate, phosphatidylethanol, ethyl phosphate, fatty acid ethyl esters) and oxidative metabolites (acetaldehyde and acetaldehyde adducts). We also discussed issues concerning the detection window of these biomarkers, and possibilities and limitations of their use in routine analytical toxicology for monitoring alcohol consumption or sobriety during alcohol therapy.

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Development and validation of a method for the simultaneous analysis of fatty acid ethyl esters, ethyl sulfate and ethyl glucuronide in neonatal meconium: application in two cases of alcohol consumption during pregnancy

Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry ◽

10.1007/s00216-021-03248-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 413 (11) ◽

pp. 3093-3105

Author(s):

Mateusz Kacper Woźniak ◽

Laura Banaszkiewicz ◽

Justyna Aszyk ◽

Marek Wiergowski ◽

Iwona Jańczewska ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mass Spectrometry ◽

Fatty Acid ◽

Alcohol Consumption ◽

Solid Phase ◽

Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters ◽

Ethyl Esters ◽

Ethyl Glucuronide ◽

Published Data ◽

Ethyl Sulfate ◽

Analytical Approaches

AbstractAlcohol consumption during pregnancy constitutes one of the leading preventable causes of birth defects and neurodevelopmental disorders in the exposed children. Fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs), ethyl glucuronide (EtG) and ethyl sulfate (EtS) have been studied as potential biomarkers of alcohol consumption. However, most analytical approaches proposed for their analysis in meconium samples consist of separated extraction procedures requiring the use of two meconium aliquots, which is costly in terms of both time and materials. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop and validate a method for the simultaneous extraction of 9 FAEEs, EtG and EtS from one meconium aliquot. The sample was homogenized using methanol, and then FAEEs were extracted with hexane while EtG and EtS were isolated using acetonitrile. Then, extracts were applied to solid-phase extraction columns and analysed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (FAEEs) and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (EtG and EtS). Calibration curves were linear with r values greater than 0.99. The LODs ranged from 0.8 to 7.5 ng/g for FAEEs and were 0.2 ng/g and 0.8 ng/g for EtS and EtG, respectively. LOQs ranged from 5 to 25 ng/g for FAEEs and were 1 ng/g and 2.5 ng/g for EtS and EtG, respectively. Accuracies and precisions were between 93.8 and 107% and between 3.5 and 9.7%, respectively. The recovery values ranged from 89.1 to 109%. The method proved to be sensitive, specific, simple and fast and allowed for the reduction of the amount of organic solvent used for extraction compared to other published data while higher recoveries were obtained. The method was used for analysis of meconium samples in two cases of mothers who were consuming alcohol during pregnancy.

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Assessment of the role played by n-propanol in distinction of ethanol source in postmortem blood with the assistance of ethyl glucuronide and ethyl sulfate

Forensic Toxicology ◽

10.1007/s11419-019-00507-9 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 38 (1) ◽

pp. 195-202 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Hao Wang ◽

Jiaolun Li ◽

Zhibin Huang ◽

Fanglin Wang ◽

Yunfeng Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ethyl Glucuronide ◽

Ethyl Sulfate ◽

Postmortem Blood

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Ethyl Glucuronide and Ethyl Sulphate in Urine: Caution in their use as markers of recent alcohol use

Alcohol and Alcoholism ◽

10.1093/alcalc/agaa113 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Isabella Mercurio ◽

Pamela Politi ◽

Eleonora Mezzetti ◽

Fausto Agostinelli ◽

Gianmarco Troiano ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alcohol Intake ◽

Interindividual Variability ◽

Ethyl Glucuronide ◽

Urinary Concentration ◽

Ethyl Sulfate ◽

Time Points ◽

Recent Alcohol Use ◽

Ethanol Metabolites ◽

Over Time

Abstract Aim To clarify the role of the ethanol metabolites, ethyl glucuronide (EtG) and ethyl sulfate (EtS), in monitoring alcohol consumption. Method We recruited 7 female and 17 male volunteers who were instructed to consume a quantity of beer (containing 48 gm ethanol) with food in one session. We examined urinary excretion of EtG and EtS over time and looked for correlations between the concentrations of the metabolites EtG and EtS. Results EtG concentrations in urine varied between 0.026 and 430.372 μg/ml with average values between 11.85 μg/ml (SD 19.75), 30 min after alcohol intake, and 100.39 μg/ml (SD 101.34), 4.5 h after alcohol intake. EtS urinary concentration ranged from 0.006 to 101.432 μg/ml with average values between 4.77 μg/ml (SD 5.42), 30 min after alcohol intake, and 30.14 μg/ml (SD 27.20), 4.5 h after alcohol intake. Spearman’s test showed that urinary EtG and EtS correlated significantly at several time points. Conclusion The great interindividual variability in their excretion suggests caution in the use of urinary measurement of these metabolites in forensic investigations.

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