INCREASED RATE OF ETHANOL ELIMINATION AND ELEVATED BLOOD ACETATE IN ASTHMATICS ON CORTICOSTEROID, BETA-2-SYMPATHICOMIMETIC AND THEOPHYLLINE TREATMENT

The rate of ethanol elimination and blood acetate concentrationsafter a peroral dose of alcohol were measured in eight asthmaticpatients receiving high-dose corticosteroid, sustained releasetheophylline and beta-2-sympathicomimetic treatment and in eightnonalcoholic, healthy controls. Mean ethanol elimination rate(ER) and mean blood acetate concentration (AC) were significantly(P<0.01) higher in asthmatics (ER=134.8 ± 12.9 mg/kg/hr,AC = 1.13± 0.25 mM) than in controls (ER = 100.2 ±12.3 mg/kg/hr, AC = 0.64 ± 0.10 mM). In the asthmaticsthere was a significant negative correlation between the ageand the rate of ethanol elimination (r = –0.890, P <0.01); in the control group, however, this correlation was oflower degree (r = –0.423) and did not achieve statisticalsignificance. Enhanced ethanol metabolism in asthmatics is possiblydue to the effect of drugs. Our results suggest that ethanolelimination rate is increased in asthmatics receiving medicationand that the effect is most significant in younger age groups.     

INCREASED SERUM ACETATE AS A MARKER OF PROBLEM DRINKING AMONG DRUNKEN DRIVERS

727 consecutive drunken drivers were studied for laboratorymarkers of excessive alcohol consumption. Serum -glutamyltransferaseand alanine aminotransferase showed no differences and aspartateaminotransferase and blood alcohol concentration only smalldifferences between groups of first and repeating drunk drivingoffenders. The best laboratory test to differentiate the repeatingoffenders with probably more serious alcohol problems from thefirst offenders was in our material serum acetate, the meanserum acetate level of the repeating offenders being highlysignificantly (P<0.001) higher than that of the first offendersor nonalcoholic controls. Serum acetate also differentiatedfirst offenders from nonalcoholic controls (P<0.001). Ourresults suggest that serum acetate could be used for the screeningof problem drinking among drunken drivers.