Editing Detoxification (section)

==Types==

===Metal detoxification===
{{main|Heavy metal detoxification}}
{{Further|Chelation therapy}}
{{excerpt|Heavy metal detoxification}}

===Alcohol detoxification===
{{Main|Alcohol detoxification}}
Alcohol detoxification is a process by which a heavy drinker's system is brought back to normal after being [[habituation|habituated]] to having alcohol in the body continuously for an extended period of substance abuse. Serious alcohol addiction results in a downregulation of [[GABA]] [[neurotransmitter]] receptors. Precipitous [[alcohol withdrawal|withdrawal]] from long-term alcohol addiction without medical management can cause severe health problems and can be fatal. Alcohol detox is not a treatment for [[alcoholism]]. After detoxification, other treatments must be undertaken to deal with the underlying addiction that caused alcohol use.

===Drug detoxification===
{{Main|Drug detoxification}}
Clinicians use drug detoxification to reduce or relieve [[Drug withdrawal|withdrawal]] symptoms while helping an addicted person adjust to living without drug use. Drug detoxification does not aim to treat addiction but rather represents an early step within long-term treatment. Detoxification may be achieved drug-free or may use medications as an aspect of treatment. Often drug detoxification and treatment will occur in a community program that lasts several months and takes place in a residential setting rather than in a medical center.

Drug detoxification varies depending on the location of treatment, but most detox centers provide treatment to avoid the symptoms of physical withdrawal from alcohol and from other drugs. Most also incorporate [[counseling]] and therapy during detox to help with the consequences of withdrawal.

===Metabolic detoxification===
An animal's [[metabolism]] can produce harmful substances which it can then make less toxic through [[Organic redox reaction|reduction]], [[oxidation]] (collectively known as [[redox]] reactions), [[xenobiotic conjugation|conjugation]] and [[excretion]] of molecules from cells or tissues.<ref name="mdcom.qc.ca">{{cite web|url=http://www.mdcom.qc.ca/ |title=Detox |access-date=2009-07-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090804171000/http://www.mdcom.qc.ca/ |archive-date=2009-08-04 }}</ref> This is called [[xenobiotic metabolism]].<ref name="amigo.geneontology.org">{{cite web|author=xenobiotic metabolic process |url=http://amigo.geneontology.org/cgi-bin/amigo/term-details.cgi?term=GO:0006805&session_id=6158amigo1247950855 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090725080140/http://amigo.geneontology.org/cgi-bin/amigo/term-details.cgi?term=GO:0006805&session_id=6158amigo1247950855 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2009-07-25 |title=AmiGO: xenobiotic metabolic process Details |publisher=Amigo.geneontology.org |date=2013-04-13 |access-date=2013-04-21 }}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080109235956/http://www.usd.edu/med/som/somdept/biochem/courses/bioc520/b520_60.htm L-60: Xenobiotic Metabolism] (archived version).</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://zoology.muohio.edu/oris/ZOO462/notes/03_462.html |title=Metabolism of Xenobiotics |publisher=Zoology.muohio.edu |access-date=2013-04-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601201828/http://zoology.muohio.edu/oris/ZOO462/notes/03_462.html |archive-date=2013-06-01 }}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080724032850/http://www.oxfordbiomed.com/commerce/ccc2433-xenobiotic-metabolism.htm Xenobiotic Metabolism-Oxford Biomedical Research Inc] (archived version).</ref> Enzymes that are important in detoxification metabolism include [[cytochrome P450|cytochrome P450 oxidase]]s,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Danielson P |title=The cytochrome P450 superfamily: biochemistry, evolution and drug metabolism in humans |journal=Curr Drug Metab |volume=3 |issue=6 |pages=561–97 |year=2002 |pmid=12369887 |doi=10.2174/1389200023337054}}</ref> [[Glucuronosyltransferase|UDP-glucuronosyltransferases]],<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=King C, Rios G, Green M, Tephly T |title=UDP-glucuronosyltransferases |journal=Curr Drug Metab |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=143–61 |year=2000 |pmid=11465080 |doi=10.2174/1389200003339171}}</ref> and [[glutathione S-transferase|glutathione ''S''-transferase]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Sheehan D, Meade G, Foley V, Dowd C |title=Structure, function and evolution of glutathione transferases: implications for classification of non-mammalian members of an ancient enzyme superfamily |journal=Biochem J |volume=360 |issue=Pt 1 |pages=1–16 |year=2001 |pmid=11695986 |doi=10.1042/0264-6021:3600001 |pmc=1222196}}</ref> These processes are particularly well-studied as part of [[drug metabolism]], as they influence the [[pharmacokinetics]] of a drug in the body.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ionsource.com/tutorial/metabolism/met_slide5.htm |title=Small Molecule Drug Metabolism |publisher=Ionsource.com |date=2012-09-01 |access-date=2013-04-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://tpx.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/29/1_suppl/161 |title=Comparison of the Levels of Enzymes Involved in Drug Metabolism between Transgenic or Gene-knockout and the Parental Mice |publisher=Tpx.sagepub.com |date=2001-01-01 |access-date=2013-04-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=D M Dulik|author2=C Fenselau|name-list-style=amp |url=http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/content/abstract/2/7/2235?ck=nck |title=Use of immobilized enzymes in drug metabolism studies |journal=FASEB Journal  |date=1988-04-01 |volume=2|issue=7|pages=2235–40|doi=10.1096/fasebj.2.7.3127263|doi-access=free |pmid=3127263|s2cid=27415918 |access-date=2013-04-21|url-access=subscription}}</ref>