Metabolism of ethanol and acetaldehyde in intact rats during pregnancy

Abstract

Ethanol and acetaldehyde contents in the peripheral blood of intact non-pregnant and pregnant rats have been determined after an intraperitoneal injection of ethanol. Determinations have also been made of the ethanol and acetaldehyde contents and the lactate/pyruvate ratios in frozen, clamped livers of intact pregnant and non-pregnant rats with or without a prior injection of ethanol. The in vitro activities of the liver alcohol and acetal-dehyde dehydrogenase have also been measured. Elimination rate of ethanol in vivo was found to be equal in pregnant and non-pregnant rats, but the acetaldehyde content of the peripheral blood after ethanol administration was higher in pregnant than in non-pregnant animals. Because the ethanol and acetaldehyde contents of frozen, clamped livers were similar in magnitude in pregnant and non-pregnant rats and no differences were found in the in vitro activities of the liver alcohol and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase between the two animal groups a difference in the extrahepatic metabolism of acetaldehyde is suggested to explain the high acetaldehyde content in the peripheral blood of pregnant rats after ethanol administration. The lactate and pyruvate contents of frozen, clamped livers of pregnant rats without a prior close of ethanol were higher than those of non-pregnant animals indicating a high rate of glycolysis during pregnancy, but the lactate/pyruvate ratios of the livers were equal in the two animal groups both with and without previous ethanol loading.