Chromatographic methods for blood alcohol determination

This review is focused on the different chromatographic strategies for blood alcohol determination which can be adopted for clinical and/or forensic purposes. Particular attention is paid to gas chromatography and to high-performance liquid chromatography. However, other analytical techniques in common use, such as chemical and enzymic methods, are also briefly presented, together with some, at present unusual or experimental, approaches, such as enzymic reactors and catalytic electrodes, which are suitable for application in column liquid chromatography. Finally, mention is made of the methods for the determination of acetaldehyde, the major ethanol metabolite, and of some proposed markers of chronic alcohol abuse, such as acetaldehyde-protein adducts and carbohydrate-deficient transferrin. In order to give the background of knowledge for the rational choice of an analytical strategy, an updated outline of ethanol metabolism and toxicology is presented, together with basic information for the interpretation of the results. Problems concerning blood sampling and storage are also discussed.

Enzyme-catalyzed, gas-phase reactions

Dehydrated preparations of alcohol oxidase adsorbed on DEAE-cellulose vigorously catalyze a gas-phase oxidation of ethanol vapors with molecular oxygen. The gas-phase reaction is strongly dependent on the water activity of the system. The enzymatic activity is severely inhibited by the product hydrogen peroxide. This inhibition can be alleviated, however, by an addition of catalase or peroxidase to the dry preparation. Such dehydrated, bienzymic catalysts afford a complete and selective conversion of the substrate to acetaldehyde. Dry alcohol oxidase is much more thermostable than in aqueous solution. The results of this work suggest that dehydrated enzymes have potential applications in the analysis of gaseous compounds and in the development of novel gas-solid bioreactors.