Alcohol flushing syndrome and coronary spastic angina
Journal Review
Alcohol flushing syndrome is due to due deficient activity of the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) which metabolizes acetaldehyde derived from alcohol. The syndrome is characterized by facial flushing, headache, nausea, and palpitation occurring even with intake of small amount of alcohol. It is more common in the East Asian population and is due to variant of ALDH2 known as ALDH2*2. ALDH2 is also involved in deactivation of other toxic aldehydes generated by lipid peroxidation and even smoking. It is also involved in the bioactivation of nitroglycerin. A new study published in Circulation [1] has linked ALDH2*2 genotype with coronary vasospastic angina, which has a higher prevalence in the East Asian population.
Reference
Mizuno Y et al. East asian variant of aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 is associated with coronary spastic angina: possible roles of reactive aldehydes and implications of alcohol flushing syndrome. Circulation. 2015 May 12;131(19):1665-73.
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Source: Cardiophile MD - Category: Cardiology Authors: Prof. Dr. Johnson Francis, MD, DM, FACC, FRCP Edin, FRCP London Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
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