About 30 minutes ago, while skimming sciencedaily.com, I saw an interesting headline that stated, “Rice responsible for Asians' alcohol flush reaction, research finds”. How can I not click on it?
The origin of the alcohol flush reaction and why it may be linked to the domestication of rice. Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), found in the liver, catalyzes alcohol to acetaldehyde (Peng, et al., 2010). There are three isoenzymes ADH1A, ADH1B, and ADH1C; this study traced the ADH1B*47His allele in 38 populations consisting of 2,275 individuals in southern China and discovered that the allele appeared around the same period as the domestication of rice (Peng, et al., 2010). The study traced the allele in 28 different populations and discovered that the distribution of the alleles where consistent with unearthed culture relic sites of rice domestication (Peng, et al., 2010). Rice was fermented for preservation and to enhance nutritional value (Peng, et al., 2010). An effect of fermentation is ethanol production, and researchers believe the alcohol flushing response is an adaptation to prevent overconsumption and counter the negative effects of alcohol consumption (Peng, et al., 2010). ADH1B*47His allele has an increased metabolic rate leading to accumulation of aldehyde intermediate which displays the flushing phenotype (turning red) and its biochemically equivalent to the effects of disulfiram (Peng, et al., 2010.
BioMed Central. (2010, January 24). Rice responsible for Asians' alcohol flush reaction, research finds. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 4, 2019 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100119213140.htm
Peng, Y., Shi, H., Qi, X.-bin, Xiao, C.-jie, Zhong, H., Ma, R.-lin Z., & Su, B. (2010, January 20). The ADH1B Arg47His polymorphism in east Asian populations and expansion of rice domestication in history. Retrieved December 5, 2019, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2823730/.
Oroszi, G., & Goldman, D. (2004). Alcoholism: genes and mechanisms. Pharmacogenomics, 5(8), 1037–1048. doi: 10.1517/14622416.5.8.1037
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