KOREASCHOLAR

The fruit stalk of Hovenia dulcis (H.dulcis) is traditionally used to relieve hangovers in Korea. Theracurmin is a highly absorbable curcumin preparation which increases the bioavailability of curcumin. Curcumin is known for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. However, the role of this combination in lowering alcohol levels in the body, thereby alleviating the severity of alcohol-induced hangover has not been investigated. Therefore, we conducted a study to investigate the eliminatory effects of a health drink containing the extract of the H. dulcis fruit stalk and theracurmin (theracurmin drink) on ethanol-induced hangover in rats. The theracurmin drink delivered orally to rats 30 mins before the administration of 40% ethanol (5 g/kg body weight), lowered the concentration of ethanol and acetaldehyde in the blood samples collected 1, 3, and 5 h after ethanol administration. Furthermore, the theracurmin drink increased the activities of alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase enzymes. The effectiveness of the theracurmin drink was thus superior to that of other health drink products, suggesting that its consumption may alleviate or prevent an alcohol-induced hangover.

Abstract
I. Introduction
II. Materials and Methods
    1. Materials
    2. Animals
    3. Preparation of experimental ethanol-induced hangoverrats
    4. Measurement of blood alcohol and acetaldehyde levelsin hangover-induced rats
    5. Measurement of ADH and ALDH activity in liver tissue
    6. Measurement of enzyme activity indicating liverfunction in serum and liver
    7. Measurement of total glutathione
    8. Clinical study
    9. Statistics
III. Results and Discussion
    1. Inhibition of blood alcohol and acetaldehyde effects inhangover-induced rats by theracurmin drink
    2. Restoring effect of theracurmin drink on alcoholdehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase(ALDH) levels in liver of hangover-induced rats
    3. Improvement of liver function by theracurmin drink inhangover-induced rats
    4. Antioxidant effects of theracurmin drink in liver ofhangover-induced rats
    5. Plasma alcohol levels in clinical trials
IV. Summary and Conclusion
References

• Nam E Kang(Department of Food and Nutrition, Eulji University)
• Yoon Sin Oh(Department of Food and Nutrition, Eulji University)
• Hee Kyung Yeo(R&D center, HANDOK Inc.)
• Hyun Wook Baik(Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology & Clinical Nutrition, DMC Bundang Jesaeng Hospital)
• Se-Eun Jang(Department of Food and Nutrition, Eulji University) Corresponding author