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Determination of ethyl glucuronide in hair to assess excessive alcohol consumption in a student population

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Abstract

Hair analysis for ethyl glucuronide (EtG) was used to evaluate the pattern of alcohol consumption amongst the Portuguese university student population. A total of 975 samples were analysed. For data interpretation, the 2014 guidelines from the Society of Hair Testing (SoHT) for the use of alcohol markers in hair for the assessment of both abstinence and chronic excessive alcohol consumption were considered. EtG concentrations were significantly higher in the male population. The effect of hair products and cosmetics was evaluated by analysis of variance (ANOVA), and significant lower concentrations were obtained when conditioner or hair mask was used or when hair was dyed. Based on the analytical data and information obtained in the questionnaires from the participants, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed in order to determine the ideal cut-offs for our study population. Optimal cut-off values were estimated at 7.3 pg/mg for abstinence or rare occasional drinking control and 29.8 pg/mg for excessive consumption. These values are very close to the values suggested by the SoHT, proving their adequacy to the studied population. Overall, the obtained EtG concentrations demonstrate that participants are usually well aware of their consumption pattern, correlating with the self-reported consumed alcohol quantity, consumption habits and excessive consumption close to the time of hair sampling.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian for the financing of this project (Investigação e Saúde—reference: 125895), the programme COMPETE and the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (PEst-OE/SAU/UI0709/2014). D. Oppolzer acknowledges the Programa Operacional Regional do Centro 2007–2013 QREN (Programa “Mais Centro”) in the form of a fellowship (CENTRO-07-ST24-FEDER-002014, reference TPCR-2-004).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CICS-UBI—Centro de Investigação em Ciências da Saúde, Universidade da Beira Interior, Av. Infante D. Henrique, 6201-506, Covilhã, Portugal

    David Oppolzer & Eugenia Gallardo

  2. Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal e Ciências Forenses—Delegação do Sul, Rua Manuel Bento de Sousa, 3, 1169-201, Lisbon, Portugal

    Mário Barroso

Authors
  1. David Oppolzer
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  2. Mário Barroso
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  3. Eugenia Gallardo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mário Barroso.

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All the participants were informed about the objectives of the study and have provided a signed “Informed consent” form, which was approved by the ethical committee of Universidade da Beira Interior.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Oppolzer, D., Barroso, M. & Gallardo, E. Determination of ethyl glucuronide in hair to assess excessive alcohol consumption in a student population. Anal Bioanal Chem 408, 2027–2034 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-015-9155-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-015-9155-7

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