Baijiu hangover: Correlation analysis between neurobiochemical and behavioral parameters in a mouse model and clinical symptoms

Baijiu, a distilled Chinese spirit, is one of the most popular alcoholic beverages. However, excessive drinking of Baijiu may cause severe hangover symptoms, including headache, reduced appetite, and dizziness. Herein, we aimed to characterize various clinical hangover symptoms induced by binge consumption of Baijiu samples with different post-drinking qualities in a BALB/c mouse model. Baijiu sample with higher concentrations of alcohols and aldehydes resulted in more severe hangovers in population. Mice administered with the low post-drinking quality Baijiu exhibited altered neurobiochemical parameters and impaired motor performance 10 h after gavage dose of 4.3 g ethanol/kg body weight, including decreased brain 5-hydroxytryptamine, sucrose preference, increased serum endothelin and gait ataxia. Correlation analysis further revealed that these mouse indices were strongly correlated with hangover symptoms in population, and profound correlations were observed between mice indicators and Baijiu congeners. These results indicated that assessing these mouse indices at 10 h after administration can effectively discriminate Baijiu with different hangover effects, and high concentrations of congeners, such as alcohols and aldehydes, may be responsible for the varying post-drinking qualities of Baijiu.