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Distribution of ethanol between saliva and blood in man
Author(s) -
Jones A. W.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
clinical and experimental pharmacology and physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1440-1681
pISSN - 0305-1870
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1681.1979.tb00007.x
Subject(s) - saliva , ethanol , distribution (mathematics) , physiology , medicine , psychology , food science , chemistry , biochemistry , mathematics , mathematical analysis
Summary 1. Forty‐eight male subjects drank ethanol (0.72 g/kg) as neat whisky on a fasting stomach within 20 min and the ethanol concentrations in saliva and capillary blood were determined at 30‐60 min intervals for the next 7 h. 2. The concentration of ethanol in saliva was generally slightly higher than in capillary blood, as expected from their relative water contents. The mean saliva/ blood ethanol ratio between 60 and 360 min from the start of drinking was 1.082 (s.e.m. = 0.0059), ( n = 336). Moreover, the saliva/blood ethanol ratio was remarkably constant throughout the absorption, distribution and elimination phases of ethanol metabolism. 3. The saliva (y) and blood ethanol (x) concentrations (mmol/1) were highly correlated ( r = 0.976, standard error = 0.011, P < 0.001). The regression equation was y = 0.109 + 1.071 x . The saliva and blood ethanol concentrations reached zero nearly simultaneously, there being no appreciable time lag in the saliva. 4. The results indicate that saliva is a practical medium for ethanol determinations and that blood ethanol can be reliably estimated from analysis of a saliva specimen. Saliva ethanol analysis could well serve as supporting evidence in clinical and medico‐legal diagnosis of ethanol intoxication.