What is it about?
Ethyl glucuronide (alcohol metabolite), a marker of recent alcohol use and endogenous ethyl glucuronide profile in control subjects who do not drink alcohol or have not drunk in at least last 5 days were determined using a rapid and easier LCMS/MS method with original MS parameters and gradient programme. The method uses an easily prepared mobile phase without buffer or salt, a conventional C18 column available in most laboratories and is comprehensively validated in accordance with analytical guidelines, including the real sample, uncertainty measurement, and HorRat results. The excellent separation from matrix peaks, system suitability tests, uncertainties measurement, HorRat calculations, and use of the Eurachem method for LOQ determination enhanced the reliability of the method. A limited study on a group who did not consume alcohol was performed in this study in order to evaluate the suggested cut-off limits. The present paper includes the normalisation of results to creatinine to eliminate the dilution effect. To the best of our knowledge, the literature contains no publication on urinary EtG determination including all the above parameters in a single work.
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Why is it important?
Thi developed method is important for easy detecting recent alcohol use in urine after the clearance of alcohol from the body, and fast and cheap monitoring of alcohol abuse, to use as evidence of alcohol use in courts. A simple method with formic acid and C18 column was developed. Endogenous ethyl glucuronide profile was investigated in control subjects who do not drink alcohol or have nor drunk in at least last 5 days. A contribution to determine a cut-off limit for ethyl glucuronide to prevent false positive results. A challenging study from the point of normalizing results to creatinine and obtained endogenous ethyl glucuronide values from Turkish subjects. The results of the study suggests that population studies should be carried out in the future, in different parts of the world in order to see how EtG values change in different cultures, life styles and countries and cut-off limits used today should be reevaluated with new studies.
Perspectives
EtG can be found even after the uptake of trace amounts of ethanol using LC-MS/MS, so that it is possible to obtain false positive test results. False positives may be reduced by setting higher cut-off values. Very few and inadequate non-drunk group studies for cut-off limit determinations are found in the literature with inconsistent results. EtG values in urine standardised to creatinine are useful to make the results comparable. Accordingly, the present paper includes a cut-off limit study and normalisation of results to creatinine to eliminate the dilution effect. The number of cut-off limit studies in literature is inadequate. 100 ng mL−1 is accepted in some laboratories (without normalizing to creatinine) but no cut-off limit for urinary EtG has yet been agreed. There is a need for rapid methods to detect alcohol intake with alcohol metabolite. In addition, cut-off limits should be determined according to the cultures of different countries ... (Forexample many Turkish people use cologne which show itself as high endogenous EtG concentration, which may mislead the courts if low cut-off limits as 100 ng/mL are applied.)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Beril ANILANMERT
Istanbul Üniversitesi-Cerrahpaşa
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A rapid LC-MS/MS method for determination of urinary EtG and application to a cut-off limit study, Chemical Papers, January 2015, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1515/chempap-2015-0173.
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