Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access originally published online on July 19, 2006
Alcohol and Alcoholism 2006 41(5):534-539; doi:10.1093/alcalc/agl048
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FATTY ACID ETHYL ESTERS (FAEE); COMPARATIVE ACCUMULATION IN HUMAN AND GUINEA PIG HAIR AS A BIOMARKER FOR PRENATAL ALCOHOL EXPOSURE
1 Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada M5G 1X8 and 2 Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada K7L 3N6
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed at: Gideon Koren FACMT, FRCPC, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1X8, Canada. Tel: +416 813 5781; Fax: +416 813 7562; E-mail: gkoren{at}sickkids.ca
(Received 30 September 2005; first review notified 28 November 2005; in revised form 17 May 2005; accepted 18 May 2006)
Aims: To compare the incorporation rate (ICR) of fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE) in hair between guinea pigs and humans, and to assess the relationship between ethanol exposure and FAEE concentrations in hair. Methods: Published data from pregnant guinea pigs, including maximum blood ethanol concentration (BEC), dosage regimen, and total hair FAEE concentration, were compared with published data from alcoholic patients, where dose of ethanol consumed and total hair FAEE concentration were reported. Mean values of ethanol Vmax for pregnant guinea pigs and humans were obtained from published data (26.2 and 24 mg/dl/h, respectively). Results: Total and individual FAEE ICRs, defined as the ratio of hair FAEE to the area under the BEC-time curve (total systemic ethanol exposure), were found to be on average an order of magnitude lower in the guinea pig than in the human. The profiles of ester incorporation also differed slightly between species, with ethyl stearate being highly incorporated in guinea pig hair and less so in human hair. The results may reflect in the human greater FAEE production, greater FAEE deposition in hair, slower FAEE catabolism, differential sebum production and composition, or a combination thereof. Also, ethyl oleate was found to correlate with total systemic ethanol exposure for both guinea pigs and humans, correlation coefficients equalling 0.67 (P < 0.05) and 0.49 (P < 0.05), respectively. No other ethyl esters, nor total FAEE, were found to correlate with systemic ethanol exposure. Conclusion: When extrapolating FAEE concentrations in hair from guinea pigs to humans, an order of magnitude difference should be considered, with humans incorporating more FAEE per unit of ethanol exposure. Also, the results suggest caution should be taken when interpreting values of single esters because of their differential incorporation among species. Lastly, our findings suggest ethyl oleate may be of keen interest in FAEE hair analysis, particularly across species.
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  V. Kulaga, Y. Velazquez-Armenta, K. Aleksa, Z. Vergee, and G. Koren The Effect of Hair Pigment on the Incorporation of Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters (FAEE) Alcohol Alcohol., May 1, 2009; 44(3): 287 - 292. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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