Alcohol and Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters

This chapter discusses the relationship of alcohol and fatty acid ethyl esters. Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters (FAEE) are nonoxidative ethanol metabolites that are esterification products of fatty acids and ethanol. FAEE directly contribute to cell injury induced by ethanol abuse, but the exact mechanism by which FAEE mediate this toxic effect remains to be discovered. Most of the enzyme activities found to be catalytic for FAEE synthesis are esterification enzymes that link fatty acid or fatty acyl-CoA to ethanol. However, there are a number of reports that suggest that the hydrolysis of fatty acids from a more complex lipid molecule (such as phospholipid and triglyceride) is the rate limiting step in the formation of FAEE, and that the esterification step is presumably either nonrate-limiting or nonenzymatic. FAEE are of growing importance in the toxicity induced by excess ethanol intake. There is an increasing evidence that FAEE mediated cytotoxicity and FAEE are proving to be a robust marker of ethanol intake in a variety of cells and tissues, and in the blood. The use of FAEE to monitor ethanol intake or to identify individuals as chronic alcoholics should continue to strengthen as more clinical studies are completed.