Stable acetaldehyde--protein adducts as biomarkers of alcohol exposure

The consumption of alcoholic beverages has been associated with increased risks of a number of chronic disorders including cancers. It is still not clear whether ethyl alcohol or other components such as metabolites are directly involved in the carcinogenic process or whether the effects are due to the modulation of metabolism of other carcinogens. At present, there is no good biomarker of alcohol intake, particularly at low or moderate levels of consumption. A number of studies have shown the ability of the major metabolite acetaldehyde to react with proteins in vitro to give stable and unstable adducts. The interaction of acetaldehyde with model peptides, which correspond to N-terminal globin sequences, was studied. The major stable adduct was identified by mass spectrometry and NMR as a diastereoisomeric mixture of imidazolidinones. This is believed to be formed by reaction and cyclization of the initial Schiff base adduct with the N-terminal valine. Incubation of human globin with acetaldehyde (0-2 mM) yielded products which were identified as the N-terminal adducts by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) of proteolytic digests. The specificity and sensitivity of the analysis was improved by the use of on-line HPLC-ESI-MS. Tryptic digests of the modified globin which contained both the N-terminal acetaldehyde adducts of alpha-globin (heptapeptide) and beta-globin (octapeptide) were resolved. These results suggest that analysis of stable imidazolidinone adducts is a promising approach to estimation of alcohol exposure.