Ethanol (EtOH)

Ethanol is an organic compound classified as an alcohol with the formula C₂H₅OH. It appears as a colorless volatile liquid that acts as the principal type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. Chemically, it consists of an ethyl group attached to a hydroxyl group. In biological systems, it serves primarily as both an intoxicant and metabolic substrate. After ingestion, it rapidly distributes throughout body water compartments due to its solubility properties. The majority of ingested ethanol undergoes hepatic metabolism via three main enzymatic pathways—alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), cytochrome P450 CYP2E1-mediated microsomal oxidation system (MEOS), and catalase—with ADH being predominant under normal conditions.[2][5] Its primary metabolite acetaldehyde is toxic and carcinogenic; further conversion into acetate occurs via aldehyde dehydrogenases before entering general metabolism. Although widely studied for its pharmacological effects on neurotransmitter systems such as GABAergic potentiation and NMDA antagonism—which underlie its central nervous system depressant actions—ethanol itself does not qualify as a therapeutic target like receptors or enzymes, but rather acts upon them or serves as their substrate.[2] Chronic exposure leads to significant health risks including addiction ("alcoholism"), neurotoxicity, hepatotoxicity/fatty liver/cirrhosis/cancer risk,[8] making safety concerns paramount. Notes on Target Status: Ethanol should not be considered a molecular "target", such as those typically referenced in drug discovery databases—it does not function biologically like receptors/enzymes/transporters/transcription factors/etc., but instead acts upon these targets or serves as their substrate/metabolite. Therefore: is_target: false is_incorrect: true The entry "ethanol" refers specifically to the small molecule itself—not any protein/receptor/enzyme—and thus does not fit standard definitions for molecular targets used in pharmacology or therapeutics.

Other names

Ethyl alcoholGrain alcoholDrinking alcoholPure alcohol

As a molecule: - Acts as an agonist at GABA_A receptors and antagonist at NMDA receptors in the brain—causing CNS depression. - Inhibits voltage-gated calcium channels. As a substrate: - Metabolized primarily by alcohol dehydrogenase to acetaldehyde; then by aldehyde dehydrogenase to acetate.