[Alcohol metabolism at moderate drinking in healthy men. Comparison between differences of alcohol beverages, with and without meal, and genetic polymorphism].

Studies on metabolisms of alcohol and the metabolites (e.g.:acetaldehyde) after drinking give basic and important information to recognize the physiological influence of drinking to human bodies. The aims of these studies were to clarify the influences of ALDH2 genotype difference, kinds of alcohol beverages, and fasted or prandial state to alcohol metabolisms at moderate drinking. The studies were conducted by a randomized cross-over design. After overnight fast, fifteen of ALDH2*1/*1 (Experiment 1) and twenty of ALDH21/2 (Experiment 2) in Japanese healthy men aged 40 to 59 years old drank beer or shochu at a dose of 0.32g ethanol / kg body weight with or without test meal (460 kcal). The peak of blood ethanol (C(max)) was higher with shochu than with beer in the fasted condition in both ALDH2 genotypes, however, the difference between two types of alcohol beverages went out in the prandial condition. Simultaneous ingestion of test meal with alcohol beverage significantly decreased blood ethanol concentrations and increased ethanol disappearance rate (EDR) in the both genotypes. EDR values were significantly higher in ALDH21/1 type than in ALDH21/2 type in the both beverages with and without meal, whereas beta values showed no significant difference between two genotypes. The concentrations of blood acetaldehyde in ALDH21/*2 type were higher in prandial condition than in fasted condition with shochu. These results indicate that meal modified the differences of alcohol metabolism between beer and shochu and also between ALDH2 genotypes. Thus, alcohol metabolism in daily drinking is shown to be regulated by various combinatorial drinking conditions.