Abstract
Summary
Acute (single dose) and chronic (multiple dose) ethanol intoxication has been produced in rats and mice so that the effects on survival and on ethanol metabolism could be determined in animals pretreated with ascrobic acid and/or zinc sulfate. Only 13 of 40 mice (32%) injected ip with a fixed amount of ethanol on 2 consecutive days survived. In contrast, the survival rates in matched animals pretreated with ascrobic acid (25 mg) or zinc (1 μM) were 100 and 90%, respectively (20 animals per group). Smaller amounts of zinc (0.2 and 0.4 μM) improved the survival after the first injection of ethanol (24 hr), but not after the second (48 hr). Similar observations were made in rats given repeated injections of ethanol over a 4-week period. Serial blood ethanol concentrations were determined in rats pretreated with ascrobic acid, zinc, a combination of ascorbic acid and zinc, pyrazole (an alcohol dehydrogen-ase inhibitor), or saline (control). Blood ethanol concentrations were significantly lower (P < 0.05) 1 hr after ip ethanol injections in animals pretreated with ascorbic acid and/or zinc when compared to saline control animals. Pyrazole, in contrast, maintained increased blood ethanol levels. These studies indicate that both ascorbic acid and zinc exert protective effects in ethanol-in-toxicated rodents.
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