Phosphatidylethanol (PETH)

Phosphatidylethanol (PEth) is a generic term for a large group of phospholipids formed from the cell membrane molecule phosphatidylcholine in the presence of ethanol, making them 100% specific for ethanol.

Due to the relatively slow elimination, PEth´s half-life is about 5 days. PEth is generally accepted as the best biomarkers for ethanol consumption and correlated to alcohol consumption over time. Despite years of practis,  no false positives have been reported in humans.

Principles of the Method

Phosphatidylethanol is extracted from whole blood by addition extraction solvent containing an internal standard to the sample. After thorough mixing and centrifugation the supernatant is injected in the LC-MS/MS system. The components are separated on a column (art.no. 52015) using a binary gradient. The effluent is monitored with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) to follow the respective characteristic transitions for PEth and the internal standard. The ratio between the chromatographic peak areas for PEth and the internal standard are used to quantify the concentration of PEth in the samples.

redhot diagnostics utilize proprietary technology for the production of PEth Calibrators and a D5-PEth internal standards. Patent EPO 2993434, US 9499572 and 9784701

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