Effect of acute ethanol intoxication on the distribution of dieldrin in mice

Abstract

Ethanol (6.3 g/kg) or a calorically equivalent quantity of glucose was administered po to groups of adult male Swiss-Webster mice previously given a single po dose of dieldrin (16 mg/kg). Dieldrin levels were significantly elevated in plasma and liver 16 hr after ethanol administration. There was also an increase in total liver lipids 8 and 16 hr after ethanol. Although ethanol decreased the urine volume, there was no significant reduction in the total dieldrin excreted in the urine during the first 16 hr after ethanol. There was no difference between ethanol and glucose treated animals in respect to dieldrin levels in epididymal fat at 8, 16 and 24 hr after ethanol or glucose. Since ethanol did not decrease the concentration of dieldrin in epididymal fat, it appears that mobilization of dieldrin from storage sites in adipose tissue may not be primarily responsible for the observed increase in dieldrin levels in plasma and liver after ethanol. It is suggested that a decrease in urinary excretion of dieldrin following ethanol accounts for the increase in dieldrin levels in the tissues.