AUTHOR=ISRAEL YEDY , Rivera-Meza Mario , Karahanian Eduardo , Quintanilla Maria E., Tampier Lutske , Morales Paola , Herrera-Marschitz Mario TITLE=Gene specific modifications unravel ethanol and acetaldehyde actions JOURNAL=Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience VOLUME=7 YEAR=2013 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/behavioral-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2013.00080 DOI=10.3389/fnbeh.2013.00080 ISSN=1662-5153 ABSTRACT=
Ethanol is metabolized into acetaldehyde mainly by the action of alcohol dehydrogenase in the liver, while mainly by the action of catalase in the brain. Aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 metabolizes acetaldehyde into acetate in both organs. Gene specific modifications reviewed here show that an increased liver generation of acetaldehyde (by transduction of a gene coding for a high-activity liver alcohol dehydrogenase ADH1*B2) leads to increased blood acetaldehyde levels and aversion to ethanol in animals. Similarly aversive is an increased acetaldehyde level resulting from the inhibition of liver aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 (ALDH2) synthesis (by an antisense coding gene against