Alcohol flushing, patch test, and ADH and ALDH genotypes in Brazilian ethnic groups

Self reports of flushing reaction after drinking, cutaneous sensitivity to alcohol (patch test), and genotypic determination of ADH2, ADH3, and ALDH2 were studied in 53 Brazilian volunteers of different ethnic groups. Genotypes were determined using single-strand conformation polymorphism in discontinuous buffer electrophoresis. Analysis of the results indicated several cases of a reported flushing reaction among ALDH2 1/1 individuals, while all but 2 cases of ALDH2 heterozygotes reported a flushing reaction. The latter subjects also had a negative result in the patch test. These preliminary results indicate that variability in the facial flushing reaction to alcohol seems to be a phenomenon resulting not only from the presence of a deficient ALDH2*2 allele, but also from other polymorphisms of alcohol-metabolizing enzymes.