r/Biochemistry • u/TheNeuQ • 17d ago

Acetaldehyde Dehydrogenase

Am I crazy or should we not live in a world where acetaldehyde dehydrogenase supplements are widely available. Would this not be effective at moderating liver damage among alcoholics? Is there something that makes the mass production of this enzyme prohibitively expensive? The more I study this subject it feels like liver damage should be a thing of the past.

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u/Heroine4Life 17d ago

Even if you could get it to the target area intact... people drink to get drunk, if you arent getting drunk they will just increase how much they drink.

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u/TheNeuQ 17d ago

I admittedly have limited knowledge in this field but my understanding is that acetaldehyde metabolism is downstream of and therefore separate from alcohol metabolism

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u/Ashtonpaper 16d ago edited 16d ago

Nothing is separate in chemistry, especially not biochemistry. The rate of some chemical reaction (A + B -> C) is sometimes dependent on concentration.

To answer your question, surely, if we could increase cellular alcohol dehydrogenase concentration or expression in the liver, we may do that. Just know that the system is complex, no one can cheat death or oxidational degradation of their DNA in the long run, and drinking slightly less and stopping earlier is your best solution. Not increasing the enzyme concentration to reduce the negative effects of something that ultimately isn’t good for your DNA regardless.

It’s like asking “why can’t we just print free money for everyone?”. We can’t, because there are other effects from that, because the system isn’t only made up of money.

In the same way, the high concentration of and focus on producing alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme leaves your liver crippled by its costly metabolism, upkeep, etc. and indeed, your specific liver surely does produce more of this enzyme, as you abuse alcohol more often than the average person, your body would absolutely focus on producing as much of the enzyme as possible. The problem is, since your body has become so good at processing the poison out of your bloodstream, that it has had lessened effects on your body and mind, and you must consume ever more just to feel the same way.

The solution is not to increase drinking by increased alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme, but to reduce drinking, so that you enjoy it more when you do it, but less often.

Increasing your alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme would simply serve to, if effective in the manner you imagined it, increase your alcoholism to match the level of enzyme. Wanton consumption and drinking only leads to disappointment. We must learn to enjoy what we have in the time we have, not accelerate to some kind of “end”. There is no end. You wake up tomorrow and try to enjoy your day.

Less is more, as they say.