Alcohol and Alcoholism Vol. 38, No. 4, pp. 347-351, 2003
© 2003 Medical Council on Alcohol
URINARY ETHYL GLUCURONIDE AND 5-HYDROXYTRYPTOPHOL LEVELS DURING REPEATED ETHANOL INGESTION IN HEALTHY HUMAN SUBJECTS
Department of Mental Health and Alcohol Research, National Public Health Institute, POB 33, FIN-00251 Helsinki, Finland and
1 Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden
Received 21 October 2002; in revised form 3 February 2003; in revised form 12 February 2003; accepted 12 March 2003
Aims: This study investigated the stability and reproducibility of urinary ethyl glucuronide (EtG) and the 5-hydroxytryptophol (5-HTOL) to 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid (5-HIAA) ratio, both of which are used as biochemical markers of recent alcohol consumption, after single and multiple oral doses of ethanol in healthy human subjects. Methods: Nine females aged 19–27 years drank ethanol (8%, w/v, in juice) or placebo (juice) in random order. The intervention consisted of 0.4 g/kg (22–28 g) of ethanol or placebo twice daily (in the morning and evening) during 8 consecutive days, starting in the evening on day 1. Spot urine samples of the first morning void were collected during the 8-day drinking period and for another 3 days (days 9–11) with no intake of ethanol or placebo. Ethanol, EtG, 5-HTOL and 5-HIAA were determined in the urine samples by headspace GC, LC–MS, GC–MS and HPLC, respectively. Results: The individual results during the drinking period were highly variable, both within and between subjects, ranging from 0–7.3 mmol/l for ethanol, 1.4–71.0 mg/l for EtG, 0.1–4.5 mg/mmol for the EtG/creatinine ratio, and 2–109 nmol/µmol for 5-HTOL/5-HIAA. The placebo group consistently showed negative values for ethanol (< 0.1 mmol/l) and 5-HTOL/5-HIAA (< 15 nmol/µmol), but two samples were positive for EtG (> 0.1 mg/l). In the morning of day 9 (i.e. 
14–15 h after the last dose), ethanol was no longer measurable in urine and the 5-HTOL/5-HIAA ratio had returned to below the reference value, but detectable levels of EtG (11.3 ± 6.0 mg/l, mean ± SD) and the EtG/creatinine ratio (1.0 ± 0.3 mg/mmol) were found in all samples. Conclusions: The results confirm the increase in urinary EtG and 5-HTOL levels during acute ethanol intake, although the individual values were highly variable both within and between subjects. No significant accumulation of either compound occurred upon multiple-dose administration of 0.8 g/kg (44–57 g) ethanol per day for 1 week.
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