THE EFFECT OF ACUTE ALCOHOLIC INTOXICATION ON ADRENAL ASCORBIC ACID AND CHOLESTEROL IN THE RAT

Abstract

Ethyl alcohol, in a dose of 2 g/kg of body weight, caused a significant decrease in adrenal ascorbic acid and cholesterol when given to rats by intraperitoneal injection, but not when given by stomach tube. Gavage had greater effect on the adrenals than did the alcohol itself. Two possible explanations were considered for the effect of alcohol given intraperitoneally. First, some of the observed effects might be due to pain resulting from the presence of the alcohol in the peritoneal cavity. However, prior administration of a local anaesthetic did not modify the effect of injected alcohol, suggesting that the alcohol, at the concentration used in the experiment (20% v/v), did not act as a pain stimulus. Second, it was thought that the effect of the injected alcohol could be explained largely by its much more rapid absorption into the blood. Blood alcohol measurements showed that intraperitoneal injection of 2 g of alcohol per kg resulted in a peak concentration of over 300 mg% within 2 minutes, in contrast to a peak value of just over 200 mg% at 90 minutes after administration of the same dose by stomach tube. This explanation was confirmed by the finding of smaller decreases in adrenal ascorbic acid and cholesterol after three spaced injections than after a single injection of the same total dose of alcohol. Daily exposure to gavage or to intraperitoneal injection for 1 month reduced the magnitude of adrenocortical response to these manipulations, but did not modify the respective responses to alcohol given by these routes.