Toxifying alcohols: statistic of poisoning, mechanism of toxic action (literature review)

Introduction. Alcohol poisoning is an important social and medical problem. The greatest difficulties arise in poisoning by alcohols, the toxicity of which increases during their biotransformation in the body.

Material and methods. Literature sources abstracted in PubMed, Scopus, and Russian Science Citation Index bibliographic databases served as the material for analysis.

Results. It is shown that methanol and ethylene glycol remain one of the causes of mass poisoning with severe consequences in the XXI century. Mass poisonings with methanol are registered in different countries of the world almost annually and, as a rule, are accompanied by high lethality. Ethylene glycol, which unscrupulous manufacturers used in the composition of a number of medicines, was the cause of several mass poisonings of children. Legislative and regulatory documents of different countries limiting the use of methanol and ethylene glycol in the production of industrial and commercial products are given. Toxicological characterization of methanol and ethylene glycol, information about their toxicity, toxicokinetics, biotransformation in the body is given. It is shown that the mechanism of toxic effect of methanol is primarily associated with its toxic metabolites – formaldehyde and formic acid. The toxic effect of ethylene glycol is also determined by the products of its metabolism – glycol aldehyde, glyoxal, glycolic and glyoxylic acids. Methanol and ethylene glycol metabolites are capable of damaging cells, causing mitochondrial dysfunction, inducing lipid peroxidation processes, depleting the glutathione system, which leads to the development of disorders in many biochemical systems.

Limitations. The review is based on a study of 56 literature sources. 55 sources were published from 2001 to 2024, which is a fairly reference sample. In addition, it should be noted the indisputable value of the 1904 year source as a starting point for investigating the causes and consequences of methyl alcohol intoxication.

Conclusion. Poisoning with methanol and ethylene glycol is characterized by high mortality and severe intoxication due to toxic metabolites formed during metabolism.

Compliance with ethical standards. The study does not require the submission of a conclusion from the biomedical ethics committee or other documents.

Authors’ contributions:
Zyukina D.A. – collection of material in bibliographic databases, processing and analysis of the material, writing the text;
Strelova O.Yu. – analysis of the material, editing;
Grebenyuk A.N. – concept and design of research, analysis of the material, editing.
All co-authors are responsible for approving the final version of the article and ensuring the integrity of all parts of the article.

Conflict of interests. The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Funding. The study had no financial support.

Accepted: December 20, 2024 / Revised: February 20, 2025 / Accepted: February 25, 2025 / Published: April 30, 2025

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