ADH5 encodes χ-ADH (Table 1), which is also a glutathione-dependent formaldehyde dehydrogenase. ADH5 is the most widely expressed of the ADHs, present in essentially all tissues (Figure 2). It has very low affinity for ethanol, but mouse studies suggest that its role might be more significant than originally thought when alcohol levels are high (Haseba and Ohno, 2010). In a small study of first pass metabolism, ADH5 made a contribution when the concentration of alcohol ingested was high (40%) (Dohmen et al., 1996).There are 2667 eQTLs affecting expression of ADH5 in various tissues, 221 in liver and 228 in cerebellum.
