The regulatory effect of circadian rhythm on alcohol metabolism

• Main Author: Guo, Wei
• Other Authors: Joshua Gooley
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: DRNTU::Science::Biological sciences
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/70518
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Circadian rhythm regulates numerous processes and pathways inside the body. Various drugs and chemicals have been shown to exhibit regulation under circadian rhythm. Among these processes and chemicals, the metabolism of alcohol has been relatively less researched. The effect of circadian rhythm onto the alcohol metabolism is examined in this paper. The hypothesis postulates that alcohol metabolism is slower during night phase of the circadian rhythm than that of the day phase. By following the constant routine, this study was conducted on 15 subjects. Standard protocol and controlled laboratory environment were established to avoid the confounding factors and environmental interferences. During the four-day study, a total number of 9 alcohol sessions were administered with the target blood alcohol concentration of 0.03 gram/dL. Breath alcohol concentration was measured every five minutes to fully record and construct the alcohol profiles. Three different measures are utilized to analyze the effect of circadian rhythmicity. The time to elimination of breath alcohol concentration demonstrates direct contradicting evidence towards the hypothesis. Various considerations are taken into account for the explanation and the plausible reasons for this contradiction. The complexity of the interplay between the circadian rhythm and alcohol metabolism is reasoned to be potential influence complicating the results. Although the statistical significance is not reached in this study, future studies are needed to elucidate the connection between circadian rhythm and alcohol metabolism.