• Neuroscience & Pharmacology Discussion Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Recent Journal Articles Chemistry Mega-Thread
    FREE Chemistry Databases! Self-Education Guide

  • N&PD Moderators: Skorpio | someguyontheinternet

Methanol and Ethanol

Gaz_hmmmm

Gaz_hmmmm

Bluelighter
Joined
Nov 27, 2002
Messages
4,086
Location
England, UK
I'm drunk, bare with me! :D

Can someone please explain how it is that alcohol (ethanol) is the cure to methanol? What is mean is I know that if you drink methanol then drink (enough) alcohol you'll survive, since it's the cure and that your liver processes the ethanol first. What I don't understand is, why after the ethanol doesn't your liver process the methanol? I've heard, stupid as it is, high school teens (I'm in the north east of England, the poorest part of England, weyhey! ;)) taking paracetamol (apap) and then drinking booze since it gets them "..more wrecked!". With this combo' I'm guessing the liver breaks down the paracetamol (apap) then the booze, why doesn't this happen with methanol and booze and then kill the person who's taken the methanol? :\
 
Quote from this page
** Ethanol is used to decrease the metabolism of methanol. Alcohol dehydrogenase acts within the liver to break down both ethanol and methanol, and is the rate limiting step in the metabolism of both these alcohols. The enzyme, alcohol dehydrogenase, has a greater affinity for ethanol than it does for methanol. Therefore, in the presence of ethanol, the metabolism of methanol to its toxic metabolites is greatly slowed. If there is a high clinical suspicion that a patient has ingested methanol it is appropriate to begin an ethanol drip while awaiting blood levels of methanol. Ethanol drips are also indicated if the blood methanol level returns and is 20 mg/dl or above. The target ethanol level is 100-150 mg/dl since this is the level that will saturate alcohol dehydrogenase. The recommendations for loading doses and maintenance drips are seen on table 2 below. This table assumes a typical volume of distribution and elimination. Clearly, ethanol levels must be frequently checked to assure an adequate ethanol level. Chronic drinkers need a higher rate of ethanol administration. The intravenous route of administration needs to be done through a central line because 10% ethanol has high osmolarity.
Click to expand...
Combining APAP and Ethanol is REALLY stupid! Just type into google: acetaminophen ethanol hepatotoxicity
 
To summarise what that quote says, ethanol is metabolised in the liver more readily than methanol. So, if you flood the liver with ethanol, it will be busy with that and will not touch the methanol, which will then be excreted unmetabolised, thus preventing toxicity.

Regarding acetaminophen/ethanol, if what you say is true, then I imagine that perhaps the APAP is metabolised more readily than ethanol, meaning more ethanol is available to the CNS. Of course, it could be something else entirely, a synergistic effect between the two or something. I dont have time nor inclination to look it up. As hydrobromide said, BAD combination on the liver!!
 
I believe ethanol is more easily affected by alcohol dehydrogenase in the liver than is methanol, so most of the enzyme will be used up by the ethanol and the methanol is excreted.
 
soundphaRm said:
I might be misunderstanding this, but I really hope that you're not contemplating drinking (or otherwise ingesting) methanol...it would be a VERY bad idea (to say the least)...:\
Click to expand...


Nooooo! :D I was just thinking about how if you take booze and paracetamol (I don't do this, but I have in the past and not on purpose) and how they'll both be broken down, yet how methanol can kill you and booze is the cure. I never understood what happned!

:) Thanks for the replies!
 
APAP could effect ethanol's psychoactive effects in a number of ways... alcohol is metabolised by cyp2e1, and enzyme which APAP competes for... it's also possible that APAP has some effect on the CNS.
 
Hmmm... I took a large dose of APAP (3 or 4 grams?) and then drank as much whiskey as I could in a suicidal attempt at destroying my liver and ending my life.

The results were me waking up very hungover and nauseated the next more, but relatively okay. Had bloodwork done soon after, and my liver enzymes appeared to be working normally... Perhaps the potentiation of hepatotoxitity via their combination is exaggerated.
 
I have met folks that pop between 5 to10 hydrocodone APAP mixtures (aprox 2-4 grams of APAP) for days and/or months on end while drinking heavily. They are alive and well (sort of), for now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top