Paper
THE TREATMENT OF ACUTE ALCOHOLISM WITH GLUCOSE AND INSULIN.
Published Sep 1, 1939 · S. Parker, K. M. Bowman, W. Goldfarb
The Journal of clinical investigation
14
Citations
0
Influential Citations
Abstract
The disposal of alcohol in the body has been a subject of wide interest and numerous publications. It is generally agreed that two methods are available to the body, excretion and oxidation. Sollman (1) states that from 2 to 10 per cent of the ingested alcohol is excreted by the lungs and kidneys, while the remainder is oxidized (2). Haggard and Greenberg (3) found that 2.1 to 4.3 per cent was excreted through the kidneys and 3.94 per cent through the respiratory system. Robinson and Selesnick (4) administered a mixture of 10 per cent carbon dioxide and 90 per cent oxygen to patients for one-half hour. The increased respiratory ventilation resulted in an appreciable decrease in blood alcohol and the patients showed a marked clinical improvement. The major portion of the ingested alcohol is disposed of by oxidation. Mellanby (5) found that the ingestion of food with alcohol resulted in a lower blood concentration of alcohol. Southgate (6) demonstrated a reduction of blood alcohol after food ingestion and ascribed it to a specific effect of the food on the disappearance of the alcohol as well as a decreased absorption from the gastro-intestinal tract. Widmark (7) found that the ingestion of amino acids particularly lowered the blood alcohol, while glucose had no effect. The ingestion of alcohol with glucose resulted in a lower respiratory quotient than the ingestion of glucose alone (8, 9, 10). The latter authors also showed that the blood alcohol was more rapidly decreased when glucose was administered. Clark and Morrissey (11) measured the rate of disappearance of alcohol from the blood of dogs given 3 grams of alcohol per kilo. The administration of glucose and insulin reduced the blood alcohol more rapidly. More recently Clark, Morrissey, and Fazekas (12) have shown that the liver of depancreatized cats could not oxidize alcohol in the Warburg apparatus. In these respects the oxidation of alcohol resembles the oxidation of the acetone substances which disappear from the body when glucose is oxidized. Shaffer (13) found that the antiketogenic effect of glucose could be demonstrated in vitro. When an alkaline solution containing an excess of glucose plus acetoacetic acid was oxidized by hydrogen peroxide, all the acetoacetic acid disappeared. The rate at which the solution lost reducing power and the rate at which the acetoacetic acid disappeared were found to be the same, indicating an interdependence of these two processes. Goldfarb and Bowman (14) have similarly demonstrated that the oxidation of alcohol by H20. in vitro was increased when glucose was simultaneously oxidized. Both the in vitro and in vivo experiments reviewed above strongly suggest that there is a relation between the oxidation of alcohol and the oxidation of glucose. We are presenting data on the effect of increasing the amounts of glucose oxidized in the body on the alcohol content of the blood in intoxicated human subjects.
Increasing the oxidation of glucose in the body can rapidly decrease blood alcohol levels in intoxicated individuals.
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