Effect of Hovenia dulcis fruit extract on alcohol-induced metabolism, inflammation and hangover following acute alcohol consumption: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study

Hovenia dulcis (H. dulcis) has been used as a food supplement and traditional herbal medicine for the treatment of liver injury and alcohol toxicity. Hepatoprotective and antioxidative effect were investigated in vitro and mice, but not in human yet. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the effect of H. dulcis fruit extract on alcohol metabolism and hangover symptoms as well as alcohol-induced inflammation in human. We performed a randomized double-blind crossover trial in 26 healthy young men with ALDH2*1/2 genotype, who has low ability to change acetaldehyde to acetate. At each visit, all subjects consumed 50g alcohol after 30 min from placebo or H. dulcis treatment. We collected blood samples 5 times until 12h after alcohol consumption. Serum alcohol level, acetaldehyde level, and expiratory alcohol level were used as markers for alcohol metabolism. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), Lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP), soluble CD14 (sCD14) were used as markers for alcohol-induced inflammation. As...