• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.15-21
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• 2012

Purpose: Toxic alcohols are responsible for accidental and suicide motivated poisonings, resulting in death or permanent sequelae for the afflicted patients. Major therapeutic modalities in these cases include treatment with alcohol dehydrogenase inhibitors and extracorporeal elimination. There have been a number of case reports of toxic alcohol intoxication in Korea. The purpose of this study was to review the clinical characteristics of patients suffering toxic alcohol intoxication. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients who presented with toxic alcohol intoxication at 8 emergency departments (ED) from Jun 2005 to Nov 2011. Patients who ingested methanol, isopropyl alcohol, ethylene glycol, and other alcohols except ethanol, were included in this study. The clinical characteristics of these patients were analyzed to include anion and osmolar gap, and estimated concentration of alcohol in the body. Results: During the study period, 21 patients were identified who had ingested toxic alcohol (methanol; 12 patients, ethylene glycol; 9 patients). At ED arrival, the mean anion gap was $18.7{\pm}6.9$ and the osmolar gap was elevated in 13 patients. Oral and IV ethanol were administrated to 11 patients in order to inhibit alcohol dehydrogenase. Extracorporeal elimination procedures such as hemodialysis were performed in 9 patients. There were no fatalities, but the one patient suffered permanent blindness. Conclusion: This study found that ethylene glycol and methanol were the substances ingested which produced toxic alcohol intoxication. The patients presented with high anion gap metabolic acidosis and were typically treated with oral ethanol and hemodialysis.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.143-150
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• 2023

Purpose: This study aimed to compare the clinical features of methanol and ethylene glycol poisoning. Methods: This single-center retrospective observational study included patients with toxic alcohol poisoning who visited a regional emergency medical center. Patients with methanol and ethylene glycol poisoning from January 2004 to June 2023 were selected for the study using diagnostic codes. Results: Twenty-two patients with toxic alcohol poisoning visited during the study period, with 11 patients for each category. Compared to methanol poisoning, ethylene glycol poisoning patients were more likely to have consumed alcohol for suicidal purposes (n=4 [36.36%] vs. n=8 [72.73%]) and were more likely to be drowsy (n=0 vs. n=6 [54.55%], p=0.016). The anion gap (25.43±8.35 mmol/L vs. 13.22±6.23 mmol/L, p=0.001) and lactic acid levels (1.785 [1.3-2.785] mmol/L vs. 9.90 [4.20-11.81] mmol/L, p=0.007) were higher in ethylene glycol poisoning patients than in methanol poisoning patients. Among alcohol dehydrogenase blockers, oral ethanol was administered to 10 patients (45.45%) (n=4 [36.36%] vs. n=6 [54.55%]), and intravenous ethanol was administered to six patients (n=4 [36.36%] vs. n=2 [18.18%]). Fomepizole was administered to two patients (9.09%) each, and renal replacement therapy was non-significantly more common in patients with ethylene glycol poisoning (n=8 [72.73%] vs. n=3 [27.27%], p=0.128). Three patients had delays in diagnosis and treatment, and while there were no fatalities, one patient was left with permanent vision damage. Conclusion: Because these are uncommon types of poisoning and the clinical presentation is difficult to recognize early, healthcare providers should be familiar with toxic alcohol types and screen for them to ensure proper diagnosis and treatment.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.214-218
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• 2003

Alcohol consumption causes numerous consequences on the health of the human body. Heavy drinking on a daily base has caused liver diseases. Furthermore, some products such as acetaldehyde produced from alcohol metabolism are more toxic than alcohol itself. This study was carried out to evaluate the role of Lactobacillus casei on alcohol metabolism, especially, the removal of the toxic effect of alcohol. The maximum alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activities from L. casei were observed at 4 hr of culture. L. casei was confirmed to produce the ADH and ALDH by the SDS-PAGE. From in vivo test using SD rats with 22% alcoholic drink, blood alcohol concentration (BAC), glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) and glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT) of the rats feeding the medium containing L. casei were lower than those of the rats feeding the medium containing an alcoholic drink only This demonstrates that the ADH and ALDH produced by L. casei have virtual functions to detoxicate the alcohol in vivo and the fermentation broth of L. casei can be used as an alcohol detoxification drink.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.919-925
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• 2003

Alcohol consumption has numerous health consequences for the human body. For example, heavy drinking on a daily basis causes liver diseases, and certain products such as acetaldehyde produced from alcohol metabolism are more toxic than alcohol itself. Accordingly, the current study evaluated the role of Lactobacillus fermentum MG590 to enhance the removal of the toxic effect of alcohol in alcohol metabolism. The maximum activities of the alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) by L. fermentum MG590 were observed after 6 h of culture. The production of ADH and ALDH by L. fermentum MG590 was also confirmed by SDS-PAGE. Six hours after the addition of alcohol to a culture broth of L. fermentum MG590, the alcohol concentration decreased from 7.5 to 2.7％. From an in vitro evaluation based on hepatocytes, the viability of hepatocytes in a medium containing alcohol and the cytosol of L. fermentum MG590 was higher than that in a medium containing only alcohol. From an in vivo test using SD rats fed a 22％ alcoholic drink, the blood alcohol concentration (BAC), glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT) in the rats fed a medium containing L. fermentum MG590 were lower than those in the rats fed a medium containing only the alcohol drink. These results demonstrate that the ADH and ALDH produced by L. fermentum MG590 play an important role in detoxicating alcohol in vivo. Therefore, a fermentation broth of L. fermentum MG590 could be used as an effective alcohol detoxification drink.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.181-186
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• 1994

The present study was undertaken to clarify the effect of Puffer fish skin extract (PF) on the hepatic alcohol metabolism in rats. It was observed that alcohol concentration in blood had been markedly decreased by the pretreatment of PF for two weeks. Activities of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and microsomal ethanol-oxidizing system (MEOS) were significantly incrased (more than 20% of control) by pretreatment of PF for two weeks and acute alcohol intoxication (5 g/kg) on final day. When rats were fed with subacute toxic state by alcohol (25v/v % , once a day for six weeks), activities of ADH and MEOS were significantly increased by additional treatments of PF for final two weeks. But the catalase activity was not affected by any of both case. And also activities of ADH and MEOS in vitro were not changed . These results suggest that PF treatemnt prompted the recovery from alcohol intoxication.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.351-357
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• 1989

To investigate the effect of alcohol on the ultrastructural changes of liver the experiment was undertaken by dividing in 3 groups (control, alcohol and alcohol-camitine groups). Chronic administration of ethanol to adult rats led to striking fat accumulation and ultrastructural changes in the liver. Mitochondrial abnormalities. dilation of endoplasmic reticulum, focal cytoplasmic degradation, dilation of bile canalicli and swelling of nucleus were observed. In alcohol-carnitine group, there were less fat accumulation and ultrastructural changes than alcohol group. These alterations suggest that ethanol is very toxic to the liver and carnitine prevents fat accumulation induced by alcohol. 알콜이 흰쥐 간장의 미세구조에 미치는 영향을 관찰하기위해 대조군, 알콜 처리군, 알콜-carnitine처리군으로 나누어 실험하였다. 만성적인 알콜 투여는 간에서의 지방축적을 유발하였으며 미토콘드리아의 이상, 소포체의 팽대, 세포질의 손상 Bile canaliculi의 확장 및 핵의 수축 등의 미세구조적 변화를 가져왔다. 알롤- carnitine으로 처리한 군에서는 지방의 축적과 미세구조의 변화가 알콜 처리군에서 보다는 약하였다. 이러한 구조적 변화는 알콜이 간에 매우유독하며 carnitine은 알콜에 의해 유발된 지방의 축적을 방지해 보여주는 것으로 사료된다.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.389-401
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• 2007

To investigate effect of alcohol consumption characteristics on the body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure (BP), we performed statistical analyses of data from questionnaire survey among adults over 20 years old, using SPSS WIN program. Alcohol consumption characteristics such as frequency of drinking, amount and toxic degree of alcohol didn't show a significant correlation with BP. Amount of alcohol consumption and BMI showed a positive correlation (r=.264, p<.01). Waist circumference and BMI had the highest correlations with amount of alcohol consumption, which increased with aging.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.47-57
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• 2019

Purpose: Osmolar gap (OG) has been used for decades to screen for toxic alcohol levels. However, its reliability may vary due to several reasons. We validated the estimated ethanol concentration formula for patients with suspected poisoning and who visited the emergency department. We examined discrepancies in the ethanol level and patient characteristics by applying this formula when it was used to screen for intoxication due to toxic levels of alcohol. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 153 emergency department cases to determine the measured levels of toxic ethanol ingestion and we calculated alcohol ingestion using a formula based on serum osmolality. Those patients who were subjected to simultaneous measurements of osmolality, sodium, urea, glucose, and ethanol were included in this study. Patients with exposure to other toxic alcohols (methanol, ethylene glycol, or isopropanol) or poisons that affect osmolality were excluded. OG (the measured-calculated serum osmolality) was used to determine the calculated ethanol concentration. Results: Among the 153 included cases, 114 had normal OGs (OG≤14 mOsm/kg), and 39 cases had elevated OGs (OG>14). The mean difference between the measured and estimated (calculated ethanol using OG) ethanol concentration was -9.8 mg/dL. The 95% limits of agreement were -121.1 and 101.5 mg/dL, and the correlation coefficient R was 0.7037. For the four subgroups stratified by comorbidities and poisoning, the correlation coefficients R were 0.692, 0.588, 0.835, and 0.412, respectively, and the mean differences in measurement between the measured and calculated ethanol levels were -2.4 mg/dL, -48.8 mg/dL, 9.4 mg/dL, and -4.7 mg/dL, respectively. The equation plots had wide limits of agreement. Conclusion: We found that there were some discrepancies between OGs and the calculated ethanol concentrations. Addition of a correction factor for unmeasured osmoles to the equation of the calculated serum osmolality would help mitigate these discrepancies.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.446-452
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• 2009

Oleyl alcohol, butyl butyrate, and two different ionic liquids were evaluated for the extraction of butanol from culture broth without toxic effect to cells. The tested solvents showed more than 50% extraction efficiency, and oleyl alcohol was chosen as the best extractant for butanol among the used extractants with a partition coefficient of 2.89. When oleyl alcohol was used as an extractant, more than 80% of butanol was extracted in the wide range of butanol concentrations (1-20 g/L) and pH values (pH 4-5.5). In extractive fermentation using oleyl alcohol only, there was 11% more butanol production and glucose consumption when compared to that without extractive fermentation, implicating a reduced inhibitory effect of butanol due to butanol removal to the oleyl alcohol phase. In addition, oleyl alcohol did not inhibit cell growth, while a mixture of oleyl alcohol and butyl butyrate with the volume ratio of 9:1~7:3 inhibited either butanol production or cell growth significantly due to the toxicity of butyl butyrate to cells. In conclusion, oleyl alcohol can be used as an efficient and non-toxic solvent for extractive fermentation for butanol production.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.1269-1275
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• 2014

Ecotoxicity assessments with the physiochemical water quality items and the bioassay test using Daphnia magna were conducted for 18 selected effluents of 6 industrial types (metal processing, petroleum refining, synthetic textile manufacturing, plating, alcohol beverage manufacturing, inorganic compound manufacturing) being detected toxicity from industrial effluent in Ulsan city, and the interrelationship between total toxic unit (${\Sigma}TU$) and concentrations of Water Quality Conservation Act in Korea were investigated. The average toxic unit(TU) of effluents for 6 industrial types displayed the following ascending order: petroleum refining (0.2) < synthetic textile manufacturing (0.6) < alcohol beverage manufacturing (0.9) < metal processing (1.3) ${\leq}$ inorganic compound manufacturing (1.3) < plating (3.0). These values were less than effluent permission standard. Based on the result of substances causing ecotoxicity, the correlation analysis was not easy because most of heavy metals were not detected or were less than effluent permission standard. Toxicological assessment of industrial effluent was suitable for the evaluation of the mixture toxicity for pollutant. The whole effluent toxicity test using a variety of species was needed for the evaluation of industrial wastewater.