In the liver, ethanol is metabolized to acetaldehyde by two systems: the cytosolic, largely uninducible, aldehyde dehydrogenase (ADH) and the ethanol inducible microsomal cytochrome P4502E1 [5, 6]. Mitochondrial acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) is then responsible for the further oxidation of acetaldehyde to acetate (a nontoxic metabolite) using NAD+ as a substrate.
