Ethyl glucuronide is a specific metabolite of ethanol. There have been plenty of articles referring its pharmacokinetics, detection and application as a specific bio-marker of alcohol intake. This article reviews various analytical methods of EtG, relationship between EtG quantification and ethanol intake, and criteria for determining chronic alcohol abuse, and origin of ethanol found in the cadavers by EtG analysis. EtG has its potential application in forensic toxicology.
Alcoholism/metabolism* ; Forensic Toxicology/methods* ; Glucuronates/urine* ; Hair/chemistry* ; Humans

OBJECTIVE: To develop a method for determining ethyl glucuronide (EtG) in blood and urine by liquid chromatograph coupled with tandem mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS). METHODS: After blood and urine de-proteined by acetonitrile, the supernate obtained from a centrifuge was analyzed by LC-MS/MS. RESULTS: Determination limit of EtG in both blood and urine was 0.05 pg/mL, with a linear range of 0.10-5.00 microg/mL (r > 0.999). Accuracy in both matrixes was 95%-109%. Inter- and intra-day RSD were less than 12%. The method showed an excellent performance when it was used to analyze authentic blood and urine samples for EtG. CONCLUSION The method is capable for blood and urine EtG analysis.
Alcoholism/urine* ; Biomarkers/urine* ; Chromatography, Liquid/methods* ; Ethanol/metabolism* ; Forensic Toxicology/methods* ; Glucuronates/urine* ; Humans ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Substance Abuse Detection/methods* ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry/methods*