Arterio-Venous Ethanol Levels in Blood and Plasma After Intravenous Injection in Rabbits

Abstract

Arterio-venous ethanol concentrations in both whole blood and plasma were determined as a function of time in the rabbit. Following IV injection of 1.0 g/kg, both arterial and venous ethanol concentrations showed an abrupt decline occurring immediately after the end of the administration, followed by a pseudolinear phase that persisted for the length of the experiment. This work substantiates the arterio-venous ethanol concentration differences reported in the literature. It illustrates that equal arterial and venous ethanol concentrations may not be achieved readily after rapid IV injection. Moreover, it demonstrates a faster decay of ethanol concentrations in arterial than in venous plasma.