Cited by 158Alcohol Consumption and Health EffectsGut microbiota and healthGastrointestinal motility and disorders

Bacteriocolonic Pathway for Ethanol Oxidation: Characteristics and Implications

Salaspuro, Mikko·1996·Annals of Medicine

Abstract

Alcohol ingested orally is transported to the colon by blood circulation, and after the distribution phase, intracolonic ethanol levels are equal to those in the blood. Recent studies in our laboratory suggest that in the large bowel ethanol is oxidized by a bacteriocolonic pathway. In this pathway intracolonic ethanol is at first oxidized by bacterial alcohol dehydrogenase to acetaldehyde. Then acetaldehyde is oxidized either by colonic mucosal or bacterial aldehyde dehydrogenase to acetate. Part of intracolonic acetaldehyde may also be absorbed to portal vein and be metabolized in the liver. The bacteriocolonic pathway offers a new explanation for the disappearance of a part of ethanol calories. Due to the low aldehyde dehydrogenase activity of colonic mucosa, acetaldehyde accumulates in the colon. Accordingly during ethanol oxidation highest acetaldehyde levels of the body are found in the colon and not in the liver. High intracolonic acetaldehyde may contribute to the pathogenesis of alcohol-induced diarrhoea. Because acetaldehyde is a carcinogen in experimental animals, it may also contribute to the increased risk of colon polyps and colon cancer, which have been found to be associated with heavy alcohol consumption. Intracolonic acetaldehyde may also be an important determinant of the blood acetaldehyde level and a possible hepatotoxin. In addition to acetaldehyde, gut-derived endotoxin is another potential candidate in the pathogenesis of alcohol-related liver injury. Experimental alcoholic liver injury has recently been prevented by antibiotics, and this effect was related to the prevention of endotoxin-induced activation of Kupffer's cells.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.3109/07853899609033120

Cites

90 of 90 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Ethanol ingestion is likely to increase AA formation in the intestine as a consequence of gut bacteria-mediated alcohol metabolism and low levels of ALDH2 expression in the gut.

    “Ethanol ingestion is likely to increase AA formation in the intestine as a consequence of gut bacteria-mediated alcohol metabolism and the low levels of ALDH2 expression in the gut249, although additional studies are needed to extrapolate the roles of these factors in alcohol-mediated gut damage and inflammation.”

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Salaspuro, M.
Affiliations
Helsinki University Hospital (FI)
Corresponding author
Salaspuro, Mikko
Venue
Annals of Medicine
Published
1996-01
Volume
28
Issue
3
Pages
195-200
ISSN
  • 0785-3890 (ISSN-L)
  • 1365-2060
OpenAlex
W2140909682
Cited by
158
References
90
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 3
FWCI
1.69
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Annals of Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Alcohol Consumption and Health Effects
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
Keywords
ethanol oxidation, aldehyde dehydrogenase, acetaldehyde, acetate, colon cancer, alcohol-related liver injury, endotoxin, Kupffer cells, blood acetaldehyde
MeSH terms
Ethanol, Aldehyde Dehydrogenase, Bacterial Toxins, Colon, Colonic Diseases, Colonic Neoplasms, Humans, Risk Assessment

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review