<p>A tiny capsule that mimics the liver in processing alcohol could provide a quick fix solution to the common hangover, a new study has found.<br /><br />Researchers led by Yunfeng Lu, from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have successfully placed two complementary enzymes in a tiny capsule to speed up the elimination of alcohol from the body. The enzyme combination within the capsule essentially processes alcohol the way the liver does.<br /><br />Lu said the enzyme combination could be ingested as a pill, chemically altering alcohol in the digestive system, even as the liver does its work.<br /><br />“The pill acts in a way extremely similar to the way your liver does. With further research, this discovery could be used as a preventative measure or antidote for alcohol intoxication,” Lu said in a statement.<br /><br />Naturally occurring enzymes within cells often work in tandem to transform molecules or eliminate toxins. Lu’s group assembled multiple enzymes to mimic the natural process.<br />An enzyme known as an alcohol oxidase, for example, can promote the oxidisation of alcohol but also produces hydrogen peroxide, which is toxic. Another type of enzyme, a catalase, prompts the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. </p>.<p>Placing the two enzymes next to each other can effectively remove alcohol.<br /><br />The researchers placed the two enzymes in a polymer capsule measuring just tens of nanometers in diameter. The wall of the polymer capsule is only one nanometer thick - about 1,00,000 times thinner than a strand of human hair.<br /><br />The capsule protects the enzymes and allows them to freely enter an alcohol molecule. In this way, the nanocapsule mimics an organelle, a structure found in cells that spurs chemical reactions.<br /><br />The researchers used a mouse model to test how well the enzyme package worked as an antidote after alcohol was consumed. They found that blood alcohol levels in mice that received the enzyme package fell more quickly than in mice that did not.<br /><br />Blood alcohol levels of the antidote test group were 15.8 per cent lower than the control group after 45 minutes, 26.1 per cent lower after 90 minutes and 34.7 per cent lower after three hours. <br /></p>
<p>A tiny capsule that mimics the liver in processing alcohol could provide a quick fix solution to the common hangover, a new study has found.<br /><br />Researchers led by Yunfeng Lu, from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have successfully placed two complementary enzymes in a tiny capsule to speed up the elimination of alcohol from the body. The enzyme combination within the capsule essentially processes alcohol the way the liver does.<br /><br />Lu said the enzyme combination could be ingested as a pill, chemically altering alcohol in the digestive system, even as the liver does its work.<br /><br />“The pill acts in a way extremely similar to the way your liver does. With further research, this discovery could be used as a preventative measure or antidote for alcohol intoxication,” Lu said in a statement.<br /><br />Naturally occurring enzymes within cells often work in tandem to transform molecules or eliminate toxins. Lu’s group assembled multiple enzymes to mimic the natural process.<br />An enzyme known as an alcohol oxidase, for example, can promote the oxidisation of alcohol but also produces hydrogen peroxide, which is toxic. Another type of enzyme, a catalase, prompts the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. </p>.<p>Placing the two enzymes next to each other can effectively remove alcohol.<br /><br />The researchers placed the two enzymes in a polymer capsule measuring just tens of nanometers in diameter. The wall of the polymer capsule is only one nanometer thick - about 1,00,000 times thinner than a strand of human hair.<br /><br />The capsule protects the enzymes and allows them to freely enter an alcohol molecule. In this way, the nanocapsule mimics an organelle, a structure found in cells that spurs chemical reactions.<br /><br />The researchers used a mouse model to test how well the enzyme package worked as an antidote after alcohol was consumed. They found that blood alcohol levels in mice that received the enzyme package fell more quickly than in mice that did not.<br /><br />Blood alcohol levels of the antidote test group were 15.8 per cent lower than the control group after 45 minutes, 26.1 per cent lower after 90 minutes and 34.7 per cent lower after three hours. <br /></p>