alcohol dehydrogenase

American  

noun

Biochemistry.

1. an enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of ethanol and other alcohols to acetaldehyde using NAD+, the first step in the metabolism of alcohol by the liver.

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Example Sentences

Fomepizole works by blocking enzymes known as alcohol dehydrogenase, stopping the body from converting ethylene glycol and methanol into toxic byproducts.

From Science Daily • Jan. 18, 2026

A: In the last 7 million to 21 million years our ancestors evolved a souped-up version of alcohol dehydrogenase, an enzyme that metabolizes alcohol.

From Science Magazine • Feb. 11, 2022

Researchers have recently learned that a mutation some 10 million years ago in the alcohol dehydrogenase gene greatly increased alcohol tolerance in the ancestor shared by humans and African apes.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 17, 2015

Last week a team of Italian and American researchers offered what looks to be the answer: women have far smaller quantities of the protective enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase that breaks down alcohol in the stomach.

From Time Magazine Archive

Biochemist Jack E. Wallace and Physician Elmer V. Dahl could not do their research on human beings, so they took the body enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase and studied it in the test tube.

From Time Magazine Archive