Henry W. Newman

Effect of Increased Diphosphopyridine Nucleotide Levels on Rate of Ethanol Metabolism in the Mouse

Summary Mice, in which a high level of DPN was induced by injection of nicotinamide, metabolized ethanol no more rapidly than untreated controls. This is interpreted to mean that in an animal receiving adequate niacin in its diet, availability of DPN does not limit the disappearance of ethyl alcohol from the body.

Effect of Intravenous Injection of Ethyl Alcohol on Gastric Secretion in Man.

Conclusions 1. Alcohol intravenously in man produces an increase in gastric acidity. 2. 1/8 cc. of 95% alcohol per kg. body weight intravenously as a 25% solution in normal saline is as effective a stimulant of gastric secretion as is the standard 50 cc. of 7% alcohol by mouth. 3. The response to alcohol intravenously up to 1 cc. per kg. is not as great as that to histamine. 4. The alcohol content of the gastric juice closely follows that of the blood. 5. The blood alcohol during the oral alcohol test meal is much less than after the least effective dose by vein. 6. The gastric juice alcohol after the intravenous injection is minute compared to the 7% administered by mouth. 7. From 5 and 6 above, it would seem possible that the seat of action of alcohol as a stimulus to gastric secretion lies neither in the general circulation, nor at the surface of the gastric mucosa, but somewhere between the two. Further investigation of this point is in progress.

The Electroencephalogram in Parkinsonism

Summary Patients with Parkinsonism do not show slow activity in the EEG, using either sphenoidal or scalp electrodes, except that incidental to movement artifact.

Relation of Alcohol Concentration to Intoxication

Summary The presence of alcohol in the body over a period of several hours effects a change in the response of the nervous system to alcohol, with the result that concentrations which initially produced drunkenness no longer are capable of showing this effect. Thus the effect of a given concentration of alcohol depends not only on its absolute value but also on how long a time it has been present in the body.

Ethanol-1-C14 and Acetate-1-C14 Incorporation into Lipid Fractions in the Mouse

Summary Pairs of mice were administered either by mouth or by injection equal amounts of ethanol-1-C14 or acetate-1-C14 . The phospholipid, non-saponifiable fraction, and fatty acid fractions of liver, gut, brain, and fat were isolated and specific activities of these fractions were compared. Ethanol-1-C14 and acetate-1-C14 contributed approximately equal labelling to tissues investigated.

Effect of Insulin on Rate of Metabolism of Ethyl Alcohol

Summary Insulin in a dose of 1 unit per kg was found to be variably effective in accelerating the rate of alcohol metabolism, the effect being striking in 2 dogs, much less in another. This is in accord with the variable results reported by Widmark.4 Half this dose was entirely ineffective in 2 dogs. The failure of Gregory and coworkers7 to demonstrate this accelerating action of insulin in adequate dosage must be due to the possibility that their 6 dogs fell, by chance, into the group of animals which does not show a striking acceleration with insulin.

Effect of pyridoxine in acute alcoholic intoxication.

Conclusion In the dog pyridoxine is ineffective in either increasing rate of metabolism of alcohol or reducing degree of intoxication at a given blood alcohol concentration. This is confirmatory of previous work in man, and is conclusive evidence of the uselessness of pyridoxine as an antagonist of alcoholic intoxication.

Effect of Electrically Induced Convulsions on Rate of Alcohol Metabolism in Man

It is well established that the rate of metabolism of alcohol, as assessed from its rate of disappearance from the blood stream, is peculiarly resistant to change in a given individual. However, certain substances, notably insulin, 1 some amino acids, 2 and pyruvic acid 3 have been shown to exert an appreciable acceleration of alcohol metabolism, the increase in rate ranging upwards to 50%. Because of the considerable metabolic changes incidental to electrically-induced convulsions, 4 it was felt that the effect of this procedure on the rate of alcohol metabolism warranted investigation. To this end, the rate of alcohol metabolism in 6 patients suffering from functional mental disease was studied prior to and immediately after institution of treatment with electric shock. The dose of alcohol was 1.5 cc per kg of body weight, administered intravenously as a 20% solution in normal saline, a period of one hour being required for the injection into a cubital vein. Two hours were then allowed to elapse to insure equilibration of the alcohol between the blood and tissues. Samples of blood were then taken at hourly intervals and their alcohol content determined by the method of Newman and Abramson. 5 The above procedure was followed in all cases before shock treatment was instituted, and constituted the control observation. From the blood alcohol values so determined the rate of disappearance of alcohol from the blood over any hourly period could be computed, and these values for the first hour and the average for the first 2 hours after the period allowed for equilibration are set forth in Table I. On a subsequent occasion the identical procedure was repeated, except that at the end of the period of equilibration, and immediately after securing the first blood specimen, a generalized convulsion was induced in the customary manner by passage of 60-cycle alternating current between 2 electrodes placed one on each side of the head in the temporal region.

A Constant Current Square Wave Stimulator

Summary A stimulator suitable for the determination of strength-duration curves, rheobase and chronaxia, ratio of cathodal to anodal thresholds, and galvanic tetanus ratio has been constructed of standard radio components. It has given reliable and reproducible results in cases of peripheral nerve injury.

Action of Dinitrophenol on Rate of Oxidation of Ethyl Alcohol in Vitro.

Conclusion At a pH of 7.4, concentrations of dinitrophenol from 1:5,000,000 to 1:20,000,000 slightly increased the rate of oxidation of alcohol by rat liver in vitro, while higher concentrations slightly diminished it. This indicated that under some conditions an increase in tissue metabolism produced by dinitrophenol is accompanied by an increased rate of oxidation of alcohol. From this it may be deduced that the increased rate of fall of blood alcohol concentration caused by dinitrophenol in animals may be accounted for, in part at least, by an increased rate of its oxidation in the tissues. Further work, both in vitro and in vivo, is in progress to investigate this problem more fully.