FATTY-ACID ETHYL-ESTER SYNTHASE, AN ENZYME FOR NONOXIDATIVE ETHANOL-METABOLISM, IS PRESENT IN SERUM AFTER LIVER AND PANCREATIC INJURY

Fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE), esterification products of ethanol and fatty acids, have been implicated as mediators of ethanol-induced org an damage. Because cytosolic enzymes such as aspartate aminotransferas e, lipase, and amylase appear in the blood after liver or pancreatic d amage, we hqpothesized that FAEE synthase, a which is both cytosolic a nd membrane bound, is also released into the blood of patients with li ver or pancreatic disease, We used a method involving thin-layer chrom atography coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to reliabl y identify and quantify FAEE. In this study, we demonstrated that pati ents with liver or pancreatic disease release FAEE synthase into their plasma in amounts proportional to the amount of aspartate aminotransf erase (r = 0.78), amylase (r = 0.65), and lipase (r = 0.63), These dat a indicate that liver and pancreatic damage results in release of FAEE synthase into the blood, The presence of FAEE synthase in plasma perm its nonoxidative ethanol metabolism in the plasma.