Alcohol is a toxic substance that causes the death of around three million people each year, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), which also warns that it is the main risk factor for premature mortality and disability. in people between 15 and 49 years old. Consuming large amounts regularly is harmful to health and contributes to the development of liver diseases, inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract and cancer.
Now, a team of researchers at ETH Zurich has developed a protein-based gel that breaks down alcohol in the gastrointestinal tract without causing harm to the body, so in the future, people who take this gel could reduce the harmful effects and alcohol intoxicants.
Most of the alcohol ingested enters the bloodstream through the mucous membrane of the stomach and intestines. As a result, even small amounts of alcohol affect the ability to concentrate and react, increasing the risk of accidents. Researchers have shown in mice that the gel quickly and efficiently converts alcohol to acetic acid before it enters the bloodstream and causes its harmful and intoxicating effects. Their findings have been published in Nature Nanotechnology.
The gel combats the causes and symptoms of harmful alcohol consumption
“The gel transfers the breakdown of alcohol from the liver to the digestive tract. Unlike when alcohol is metabolized in the liver, no harmful acetaldehyde is produced as an intermediate product,” explained Professor Raffaele Mezzenga from the Food and Soft Materials Laboratory at ETH Zurich. Acetaldehyde is toxic and is responsible for many health problems caused by excessive alcohol consumption.
In the future, the gel could be taken orally before or during alcohol consumption to prevent blood alcohol levels from rising and acetaldehyde from harming the body. Unlike many products available on the market, the gel combats not only the symptoms of harmful alcohol consumption but also its causes.
However, the gel is only effective while the alcohol is in the gastrointestinal tract, so it can’t do much in cases of alcohol poisoning once the alcohol has entered the bloodstream. It also does not help reduce overall alcohol consumption. “It is healthier not to drink alcohol at all. However, the gel could be of particular interest to people who do not want to give up alcohol completely, but do not want to put pressure on their body and do not actively seek the effects of alcohol,” says Mezzenga.
Less liver damage in the mice that consumed the gel
The researchers used common whey proteins to produce the gel. They boiled them for several hours to form long, thin fibrils. Then, they added salt and water as a solvent to make the fibrils intertwine and form a gel. The advantage of the gel over other delivery systems is that it is digested very slowly. But to break down the alcohol, the gel needs several catalysts.
The researchers used individual iron atoms as the main catalyst, distributing them evenly over the surface of the protein fibrils. Small amounts of hydrogen peroxide are needed to trigger this reaction in the intestine. These are generated through a previous reaction between glucose and gold nanoparticles.
“The gel could be of particular interest to people who do not want to give up alcohol completely, but do not want to put pressure on their body and do not actively seek the effects of alcohol.”
The researchers packed all of these substances – iron, glucose and gold – into the gel, producing a cascade of enzymatic reactions that ultimately converts the alcohol into acetic acid. They tested the effectiveness of the new gel in mice that received alcohol only once, as well as in mice that received alcohol regularly for 10 days.
Thirty minutes after a single dose of alcohol, prophylactic application of the gel reduced the alcohol level in the mice by 40%. Five hours after alcohol intake, their blood alcohol level had decreased by 56% compared to the control group. Harmful acetaldehyde accumulated less in these mice, and they showed significantly reduced stress reactions in their livers, reflected in improved blood values.
In mice that received alcohol for 10 days, the researchers demonstrated a lower alcohol level and a long-lasting therapeutic effect of the gel: those who received the gel daily showed less weight loss, less liver damage and, therefore, better liver metabolism. fats in the liver, in addition to better blood values. Other organs in the mice, such as the spleen or intestine, as well as their tissues, also showed much less damage caused by alcohol.
The researchers have already applied for a patent for the gel. Although several clinical tests are required before its use in humans can be authorized, the researchers are confident that this step will also be successful, since they have already shown that the whey protein fibrils that make up the gel are edible.
