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Measurement of direct ethanol metabolites in a case of a former driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol offender, now claiming abstinence

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Author

  • Friedrich M. Wurst
  • Michel Yegles
  • Christer Alling
  • Steina Aradottir
  • Jutta Dierkes
  • Gerhard A. Wiesbeck
  • Claudia C. Halter
  • Fritz Pragst
  • Volker Auwaerter

Summary, in English

A 37-year-old female subject had been convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol, and 19 months later, claimed abstinence after supervised disulfiram treatment. Our aim was to elucidate the value of direct ethanol metabolites as measures of abstinence. Ethyl glucuronide (EtG) and fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE) in hair, phosphatidylethanol in whole blood and EtG and ethyl sulphate in urine were measured. The results were compared with self-report of alcohol consumption and traditional blood biomarkers for chronically elevated alcohol consumption as carbohydrate deficient transferrin (CDT), gamma glutamyl transpeptidase, mean corpuscular erythrocyte volume, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase. EtG was found in distal parts of hair only, whereas the proximal parts were negative. Furthermore, FAEE concentrations were found in the typical distribution over the hair length and showed values typical for either moderate social drinking or abstinence. CDT was above cut-off in 9 out of 16 analyses with a decreasing tendency and the lowest values in the last 2 months before the end of sampling. The data suggest that in addition to traditional markers, a combination of direct ethanol metabolites can be useful in the expert assessment of judging driving ability. A careful individual interpretation of the results for the different markers, however, is an absolute necessity.

Publishing year

2008

Language

English

Pages

235-239

Publication/Series

International Journal of Legal Medicine

Volume

122

Issue

3

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Springer

Topic

  • Pharmacology and Toxicology
  • Medicinal Chemistry

Keywords

  • metabolites
  • hair analysis
  • direct ethanol
  • alcoholism
  • driving under the influence of alcohol

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0937-9827