alcohol-oxidase and Alcoholic-Intoxication

Alcohol abuse causes health problems and security accidents. A reliable and sensitive detection system for alcohol has been an instinctive demand in law enforcement and forensic. More efforts are demanded in developing new sensing strategy preferably with portable and non-invasive traits for the pushforward of point-of-care (POC) device popularization.

Topics: Alcohol Oxidoreductases; Alcoholic Intoxication; Biosensing Techniques; Cell Line; Diagnostic Equipment; Driving Under the Influence; Electrochemical Techniques; Humans; Hydrogen Peroxide; Metal Nanoparticles; Palladium; Platinum; Point-of-Care Systems; Polyvinyl Alcohol; Saliva

Mimicking subcellular compartments containing enzymes in organisms is considered a promising approach to substitute for missing or lost cellular functions. Inspired by the multicompartment structures of cellular architectures, we present a novel multienzyme system based on hollow hydrogel microcapsules with flexible enzymatic inverse opal particles. Benefiting from the precise operation capability of the microfluidic electrospray and the remarkable structural color marks in the inverse opal particles, we developed a multienzyme system with controllable number, type, and spatial arrangement of the encapsulated enzymes. The hydrogel shells also could improve enzyme stability against proteolysis in the system. The multienzyme system containing alcohol oxidase and catalase could act as a cascade biocatalyst and reduce alcohol levels in media, providing an alternative antidote and prophylactic for alcohol intoxication. These features indicated that our strategy provides an ideal enzyme cascade reaction system for complex biocatalysis and biomimetic functions of some organelles or organs.

Topics: 3T3 Cells; Alcohol Oxidoreductases; Alcoholic Intoxication; Aldehyde Dehydrogenase; Animals; Biocatalysis; Biomimetic Materials; Capsules; Catalase; Cell Survival; Drug Carriers; Drug Delivery Systems; Ethanol; Hydrogels; Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; Mice; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning

Organisms have sophisticated subcellular compartments containing enzymes that function in tandem. These confined compartments ensure effective chemical transformation and transport of molecules, and the elimination of toxic metabolic wastes. Creating functional enzyme complexes that are confined in a similar way remains challenging. Here we show that two or more enzymes with complementary functions can be assembled and encapsulated within a thin polymer shell to form enzyme nanocomplexes. These nanocomplexes exhibit improved catalytic efficiency and enhanced stability when compared with free enzymes. Furthermore, the co-localized enzymes display complementary functions, whereby toxic intermediates generated by one enzyme can be promptly eliminated by another enzyme. We show that nanocomplexes containing alcohol oxidase and catalase could reduce blood alcohol levels in intoxicated mice, offering an alternative antidote and prophylactic for alcohol intoxication.

Topics: Alcohol Oxidoreductases; Alcoholic Intoxication; Alcohols; Animals; Antidotes; Biomimetics; Catalase; Macromolecular Substances; Mice

Methanol, ethylene glycol, and diethylene glycol intoxications can produce visual disturbances, neurologic disturbances, acute renal failure, pulmonary dysfunction, cardiac dysfunction, metabolic acidosis, and death. Metabolic acidosis and an increased serum osmolality are important clues to their diagnosis. The former reflects the organic acids produced by metabolism of the parent alcohol, whereas the latter is caused by accumulation of the offending alcohol. However, neither the clinical nor the laboratory findings are specific for toxic alcohol ingestions. The definitive diagnosis of the alcohol intoxications is commonly based on detection of the alcohol or its metabolites in blood. Early diagnosis is important, because initiation of appropriate treatment can markedly decrease their rates of morbidity and mortality. Currently, detection of the parent alcohol in body fluids is inferred from its measurement in blood. This measurement is often performed by specialty laboratories using expensive equipment, and a long delay between obtaining the specimen and getting the results is not unusual. In this report, we describe liquid-based tests that detect methanol, ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, and ethanol in saliva. The tests are sensitive, and they have different specificity for each of the alcohols facilitating distinction among them. The relatively high sensitivity and specificity of the tests as a whole will facilitate the rapid diagnosis of each of these alcohol intoxications.

Topics: 2-Propanol; Alcohol Dehydrogenase; Alcohol Oxidoreductases; Alcoholic Intoxication; Diagnosis, Differential; Ethanol; Ethylene Glycol; Ethylene Glycols; Humans; Methanol; Periodic Acid; Phosphoric Acids; Potassium Permanganate; Saliva