Effect of Electrically Induced Convulsions on Rate of Alcohol Metabolism in Man

Abstract

It is well established that the rate of metabolism of alcohol, as assessed from its rate of disappearance from the blood stream, is peculiarly resistant to change in a given individual. However, certain substances, notably insulin, 1 some amino acids, 2 and pyruvic acid 3 have been shown to exert an appreciable acceleration of alcohol metabolism, the increase in rate ranging upwards to 50%. Because of the considerable metabolic changes incidental to electrically-induced convulsions, 4 it was felt that the effect of this procedure on the rate of alcohol metabolism warranted investigation.

To this end, the rate of alcohol metabolism in 6 patients suffering from functional mental disease was studied prior to and immediately after institution of treatment with electric shock. The dose of alcohol was 1.5 cc per kg of body weight, administered intravenously as a 20% solution in normal saline, a period of one hour being required for the injection into a cubital vein. Two hours were then allowed to elapse to insure equilibration of the alcohol between the blood and tissues. Samples of blood were then taken at hourly intervals and their alcohol content determined by the method of Newman and Abramson. 5

The above procedure was followed in all cases before shock treatment was instituted, and constituted the control observation. From the blood alcohol values so determined the rate of disappearance of alcohol from the blood over any hourly period could be computed, and these values for the first hour and the average for the first 2 hours after the period allowed for equilibration are set forth in Table I.

On a subsequent occasion the identical procedure was repeated, except that at the end of the period of equilibration, and immediately after securing the first blood specimen, a generalized convulsion was induced in the customary manner by passage of 60-cycle alternating current between 2 electrodes placed one on each side of the head in the temporal region.