Deposition of ethyl glucuronide in WHP rat hair after chronic ethanol intake

Background: this study investigated the relationship between ethanol intake in rats and the resulting level of ethyl glucuronide (etg) in rat hair. methods: rats (n = 50) consumed a 10% ethanol solution for 4 weeks,then etg was extracted from samples of their hair using a novel extraction procedure involving freezing and thawing. the etg concentration was measured using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. the animals voluntarily drank ethanol,with daily consumption in most rats exceeding 5 g/kg b.w. the silylated etg was stable for at least 28 h. the limit of detection was 0.03 ng/mg,and the limit of quantification was 0.1 ng/mg. results: hair samples from rats that consumed ethanol had etg levels ranging from 0.17-20.72 ng/mg in female rats and 0.15-13.72 ng/mg in males. there was a correlation between the amount of alcohol consumed and the etg levels in hair from female (p < 0.01),but not male,rats. conclusion: the method presented allows detection and quantification of etg in rat hair. we also observed differences in etg deposition in male and female rats. copyright © 2012 by institute of pharmacology polish academy of sciences.