Cutaneous vasomotor sensitivity to ethanol and acetaldehyde: subtypes of alcohol-flushing response among Chinese.

A cutaneous test has been applied in examination of the flushing response to ethanol and acetaldehyde in 402 Chinese of Han ethnicity. Using this noninvasive method, five response subtypes have been observed: (A) fast flushing to both ethanol and acetaldehyde; (B) fast flushing only to ethanol but not to acetaldehyde; (C) slow flushing to ethanol only; (D) no response either to ethanol or to acetaldehyde; (E) vasoconstriction to ethanol, or to both ethanol and acetaldehyde. A total of 94% in subtype (A) are reported to be flushers, while only 25% was reported in subtype (D). Other physiological responses, such as tachycardia, dizziness, headache, drowsiness, and nausea are less frequent after alcohol ingestion. The recent history of consumption of alcohol of the subjects in different subtypes was also obtained. Although alcohol-induced flushing is thought to be a deterrent factor to heavy consumption of alcohol, the frequency of drinking of alcoholic beverages was not found to be different between flushers and nonflushers.