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Ethyl glucuronide and ethyl sulfate: a review of their roles in forensic toxicology analysis of alcohol postmortem

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Abstract

Purpose

This review presents the current methods used for determining ethyl glucuronide (EtG) and ethyl sulfate (EtS) concentrations in postmortem specimens, including sample preparation, analysis and the role of EtG and EtS in the postmortem assessment of the extent of alcohol abuse.

Methods

Papers pertaining to postmortem investigation were collected from scientific databases and reviewed. The papers were published between January 2006 and October 2020.

Results

Most of the analyses involved postmortem blood and urine samples, with a few reports using other bodily specimens and tissues. The method validation was not conducted for all applications. These reports were mostly intended to present data rather than interpret them, and the lack of effort in relating these ethanol biomarkers with the cause of death and/or determination of the time of deaths due to ethanol intoxication might decrease the applicability of these makers after a promising start between 2006 and 2010. Nevertheless, by the beginning of 2020, papers investigating ethanol biomarkers were still increasing. A considerable number of methods used liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS) techniques that require less sample preparation (e.g., protein precipitation extraction, dilution, filtration, and centrifugation). Although solid-phase extraction can be applied, only three applications were reported.

Conclusions

Matrix effects can be a substantial challenge in analytical methods based on LC–MS because they directly affect the ionization of analytes. However, these problems can be avoided due to the high cutoff values used to identify positive results for these ethanol biomarkers, which are often above 0.1–1 mg/L, and using internal standards. Research on using tissue specimens is recommended as most of the reported results on this type of specimen were promising.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Department, Prince Muhammed Bin Abdul-Aziz Hospital, National Guard Health Affairs, Al Madinah Al Munawarah, Saudi Arabia

    Salma N. Alsayed & Asrar S. Alhejaili

  2. Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, College of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Asrar S. Alhejaili, Reham J. Aljukhlub, Asma I. Ashankyty, Nawal M. Helmi & Almonther A. Hershan

  3. Center of Excellence Genomic Medicine Research, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Asia G. Alharbi

  4. Department of Laboratory, Al-Thagar Hospital, Ministry of Health, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Danih H. Al-Amoudi

  5. Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Department, King Abdulaziz Medical City, National Guard Health Affairs, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Asma I. Ashankyty

  6. Poison Control and Forensic Chemistry Center, Ministry of Health, Al Madinah Al Munawarah, Saudi Arabia

    Mansour A. Alzahrani, Omar A. Alharbi & Ali M. Kheyami

  7. Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Torki A. Zughaibi

  8. King Fahad Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Asia G. Alharbi & Torki A. Zughaibi

  9. Department of Biochemistry, College of Sciences, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Nawal M. Helmi

  10. Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Mansour A. Tobaiqy

  11. Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, College of Medicine, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Almonther A. Hershan

  12. Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, 161, Cathedral Street, Glasgow, G4 0RE 1, Scotland

    David G. Watson

  13. King Abdul-Aziz Hospital, Ministry of Health, 6470, Jeddah, 21442, Saudi Arabia

    Ahmed I. Al-Asmari

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  1. Salma N. Alsayed
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  14. David G. Watson
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  15. Ahmed I. Al-Asmari
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Correspondence to Ahmed I. Al-Asmari.

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Alsayed, S.N., Alharbi, A.G., Alhejaili, A.S. et al. Ethyl glucuronide and ethyl sulfate: a review of their roles in forensic toxicology analysis of alcohol postmortem. Forensic Toxicol 40, 19–48 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11419-021-00588-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11419-021-00588-5

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