Activity of exoglycosidases in blood, urine, cerebrospinal fluid, and vitreous humor in individuals who died from ethyl alcohol poisoning

Lysosomal exoglycosidases, namely α-mannosidase (MAN), α-fucosidase (FUC), β-galactosidase (GAL), and β-glucuronidase (GLU), are of crucial importance in breaking down the oligosaccharide chains of multiple glycoconjugates. Those enzymes liberate monosaccharides from non-reducing ends of oligosaccharide chains. In this study, we have aimed to assess the potential utility of MAN, FUC, GAL, and GLU activities as indicators of ethanol abuse in individuals who died from ethanol intoxication, while also investigating the mechanisms underlying their deaths. The study group comprised 22 fatal ethanol-intoxicated individuals, while the control group included 30 deceased individuals whose body fluids showed no traces of alcohol. We measured the activities (pKat/mL) of MAN, FUC, GAL, and GLU in the supernatants of blood, urine, cerebrospinal fluid as well as vitreous humor. The results indicated significantly lower activities of MAN (p = 0.003), FUC (p = 0.008), GAL (p = 0.014), and GLU (p = 0.004) in the urine of individuals poisoned by ethanol as compared to the control group. Additionally, there was a significantly lower activity of MAN in the vitreous of those affected by ethyl alcohol poisoning (p = 0.016).