Extent of Absorption of Alcohol at Various Intervals After Oral Administration

Abstract

As a result of calculations based on blood alcohol figures obtained after the oral administration of alcohol compared with similar figures following intravenous administration, Haggard and Green-berg 1 have concluded that a period of about 6 hours is required for complete absorption from the gastro-intestinal tract, and that therefore the blood alcohol drop during the first 6 hours following oral administration is not a reliable index of the rate of metabolism of alcohol by the body. On the other hand, Hanzlik and Collins 2 using intact segments of the intestinal tract, Voltz and Dietrick 3 from determinations of residual alcohol in the gastro-intestinal tract, and Mellanby, 4 Widmark, 5 and Jungmichel 6 using the time of appearance of the peak in the blood alcohol curves, all concluded that complete absorption requires much less than 6 hours.

Since the tissues and contents of the stomach and intestines will store some alcohol regardless of the method of administration, the quantity of unabsorbed alcohol in the gastro-intestinal tract at any interval should be represented by the excess above the concentration resulting from parenteral administration. Employing this principle, a series of experiments were run in which fasting dogs received 3 gm. of alcohol per kilo administered by stomach tube, the alcohol being diluted with 3 volumes of water. If vomiting occurred the results were discarded. At various intervals following administration, groups of the dogs were quickly killed by a blow on the head and the entire gastro-intestinal tract analyzed for its alcohol content by a method recently developed by one of us (R.N.H.). 7 Another group of dogs received the same dosage of alcohol by intravenous administration in the form of a 12% solution in saline.