When a person drinks alcohol, two different enzymes in the liver break it down, first into acetaldehyde and then into acetate. People with a shortage of the second enzyme, aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 (ALDH-2)—which is normally detected in blood and saliva—can’t break down acetaldehyde efficiently. This compound accumulates in their saliva, European researchers report in the June Alcoholism: Clinical And Experimental Research.
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