When acidified potassium dichromate and glucose are chemically combined, the resulting product is called ethanal, or acetaldehyde. It is an chemical compound that may be useful in producing a marker to predict alcohol abuse or alcoholism, according to the Kyorin University School of Medicine in Tokyo, Japan.
Potassium Dichromate
Potassium dichromate is an inorganic substance used as an oxidizer in industrial and laboratory applications. It used industrially in leather products, wood stains, dyes, paints, fabrics, and floor waxes. In particular, it is used for oxidizing various alcohols into aldehydes and ketones.
Ketones
Ketones are byproducts of fat metabolism occurring in hypoglycemia and poor glucose metabolism, according to Wellion. They build up as acids in the blood and are excreted in urine when insulin levels are too low. Ketones are produced because of cells not getting as much glucose as they need. The presence of ketones in your blood may contribute to the production of acetaldehyde due to high levels of ketones, which produce ketoacidosis.
Acetaldehyde
Acetaldehyde is one of the most important aldehydes and is a naturally occurring compound that is also manufactured industrially. It is found in its natural form in foods such as bread, ripe fruits and coffee and is part of normal plant metabolism. It is the byproduct of the oxidation of ethanol, and its presence in the blood may be the reason you get a hangover after drinking alcohol.
Marker for Alcoholism
Research suggests that ethanol metabolites such as acetaldehyde are produced after the consumption of alcohol, according to a study performed in 2009 at the Kyorin University School of Medicine in Tokyo, Japan. These chemicals were noted in both the blood and urine of habitual alcohol drinkers even when they had not consumed alcohol recently. Researchers discovered a correlation between alcoholics and genotype, in other words, a genetic marker that might be useful in predicting alcoholism based on the concentration of acetaldehyde in the blood.
