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Evaluation of biomarkers assessing regular alcohol consumption in an occupational setting

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Abstract

Purpose

An estimation of ethanol intake is frequently of importance in the frame work of studies, but not trivial to achieve. Problems are “underreporting”, a very short time frame for the detection of ethanol as direct marker and interference of many in- and outside body factors with strain parameters. The aim of this study was to explore the suitability of the direct urinary biomarkers ethyl glucuronide (EtG) and ethyl sulphate (EtS) to assess moderate but regular alcohol consumption.

Materials and methods

A total of 175 male workers without any known occupational contact to substances influencing liver functions or metabolism of ethanol were examined. Strain parameters of alcohol consumption, i.e. the liver function tests (LFTs: aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyltransferase), carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT), mean corpuscular erythrocyte volume (MCV) and the markers of alcohol consumption (EtG and EtS) have been analysed and compared.

Results

Up to 14 % of workers had been outside reference range for strain parameters. 62.3 % of the workers had at least traceable amounts of EtG and 84.6 % of EtS. Values above cut-off (indicating voluntary ethanol intake) were found in 34.9 and 51.4 % of the workers for EtG and EtS, respectively. In multiple linear regression analyses, CDT and MCV but not the LFTs showed a dependency from the non-oxidative ethanol metabolites. The LFTs were influenced by BMI.

Conclusion

Determination of EtG and EtS in urine is an adequate tool to assess moderate but regular alcohol consumption.

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Acknowledgments

The study was carried out with financial support from the Industrievereinigung Chemiefaser (IVC, Frankfurt) and the Franz Koelsch Foundation (Erlangen). The authors would like to thank all participants who took part in the study and the management of the plants for their support. Special thanks to Michaela Förster for proofreading the manuscript. The authors acknowledge Sabine Straube, Werner Winter, Silvia Schels and Thomas Kokoschka for their assistance in planning and carrying out the study and Mirjam Seitz for collecting anamnestic data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute and Outpatient Clinic of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen, Schillerstr. 25, 91054, Erlangen, Germany

    Sonja Kilo, Birgit Hofmann, Elisabeth Eckert, Thomas Göen & Hans Drexler

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  1. Sonja Kilo
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  2. Birgit Hofmann
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  3. Elisabeth Eckert
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Correspondence to Sonja Kilo.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest. The evaluation of the study results was performed without any influence by the funding foundations.

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Kilo, S., Hofmann, B., Eckert, E. et al. Evaluation of biomarkers assessing regular alcohol consumption in an occupational setting. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 89, 1193–1203 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-016-1155-1

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