Abstract
Acetaldehyde concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid and blood have been determined during ethanol metabolism in the presence and absence of various aldehyde dehydrogenase inhibitors. The acetaldehyde level in the cerebrospinal fluid during normal ethanol metabolism remained constant at about 30 μ. Blood acetaldehyde was elevated in the cerebrospinal fluid by infusion or by feeding a diet contaminated with cyanamide. The increase by cyanamide varied with the acetaldehyde concentration in the blood and can be explained by an inhibition of the low Km aldehyde dehydrogenase in the brain. Disulfiram did not cause the same inhibition, whereas coprine, a new aldehyde dehydrogenase inhibitor, may inhibit brain aldehyde dehydrogenase to some degree. An enzymatic blood-brain barrier to acetaldehyde is not probable and a more dynamic view is presented. The average brain tissue acetaldehyde concentration in the absence of inhibitors is estimated to lie between 1 and 10 μM.
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