Intake of GG (LGG) fermented milk before drinking alcohol reduces acetaldehyde levels and duration of flushing in drinkers with wild-type and heterozygous mutant : a randomized, blinded crossover controlled trial.

Alcohol consumption leads to acetaldehyde accumulation, especially in people with mutant aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 gene (). Novel strategies to promote acetaldehyde detoxification are required to prevent alcohol-related toxicity. Probiotic bacteria such as GG (LGG) were shown to have capacity to detoxify acetaldehyde. This randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled cross-over trial investigated the effect of LGG fermented milk in people with polymorphisms after moderate alcohol intake. Ten healthy wild-type and ten heterozygous mutant Thai men were block randomized into two groups. Each group consumed a different sequence of 150 mL fermented milk containing 10 CFU mL LGG and lactic-acidified milk (placebo), followed by five glasses of beer (0.4 g ethanol per kg body weight), with a one-week wash-out. Consuming LGG fermented milk before alcohol reduced areas under the response curves of blood and salivary acetaldehyde in wild-type and heterozygous mutant individuals ( < 0.05 and < 0.01, respectively). Interestingly, participants with mutant responded better than wild-type participants for salivary acetaldehyde (90% 70%, < 0.001). Their durations of flushing were reduced when consuming LGG milk. Regardless of status, 10 CFU mL LGG was retained in saliva at least 3.5 h after milk consumption. In conclusion, intake of LGG fermented milk before drinking alcohol reduces blood and salivary acetaldehyde levels and duration of flushing in drinkers with wild-type and heterozygous mutant . The addition of exogenous capacity to detoxify acetaldehyde using the probiotic product could be a potential strategy to promote the alleviation of exposure to reactive and carcinogenic acetaldehyde associated with alcohol drinking in individuals with defective ALDH2 enzyme.