ABSTRACT

Background:Many previous studies have focused on the acetaldehyde produced from ethanol by oral bacteria as a risk factor for oral cancer. Most of these studies involved low ethanol concentrations (ca. 10 mM), but oral bacteria are exposed to a wide range of ethanol concentrations (100–10,000 mM) when alcoholic beverages are consumed. In contrast, ethanol is widely used at high concentrations (> 5,000 mM) as an antiseptic/disinfectant, suggesting that ethanol has bifacial biological effects; i.e. it acts as both a metabolic substrate for bacterial acetaldehyde production and an antimicrobial agent.

Materials and methods:We examined the acetaldehyde production from ethanol by oral streptococci and the effects of ethanol exposure on the growth and viability of these bacteria at a wide range of ethanol concentrations (10–10,000 mM).

Results:Acetaldehyde production was the highest at an ethanol concentration of 2,000 mM (2.1–48-fold higher than that seen at an ethanol concentration of 10 mM). Bacterial growth was inhibited by > 1,000 mM of ethanol, and the bacteria did not seem viable in the presence of > 5,000 mM of ethanol, although they still produced acetaldehyde.

Conclusion:Ethanol has bifacial biological effects, and the concentration ranges of these effects overlap.

摘要

背景：之前的许多研究都集中在口腔细菌从乙醇中产生的乙醛作为口腔癌的危险因素。大多数这些研究涉及低乙醇浓度（约 10 mM），但当饮用酒精饮料时，口腔细菌会暴露于范围广泛的乙醇浓度（100-10,000 mM）中。相比之下，乙醇在高浓度（> 5,000 mM）下被广泛用作防腐剂/消毒剂，表明乙醇具有双面生物效应；即它既是细菌乙醛生产的代谢底物，又是抗菌剂。

材料和方法：我们研究了口腔链球菌从乙醇中产生的乙醛，以及在各种乙醇浓度（10-10,000 mM）下乙醇暴露对这些细菌生长和活力的影响。

结果：乙醇浓度为 2,000 mM 时乙醛产量最高（比乙醇浓度为 10 mM 时高 2.1-48 倍）。细菌生长受到 > 1,000 mM 乙醇的抑制，并且细菌在 > 5,000 mM 乙醇的存在下似乎无法存活，尽管它们仍会产生乙醛。

结论：乙醇具有双面生物效应，且这些效应的浓度范围有重叠。