The Biology of Alcoholism: Volume 1: Biochemistry PDF
Preview The Biology of Alcoholism: Volume 1: Biochemistry
THE BIOLOGY OF ALCOHOLISM Volume 1: Biochemistry THE BIOLOGY OF ALCOHOLISM Volume 1 : Biochemistry Volume 2: Physiology and Behavior Volume 3 : Clinical Pathology THE BIOLOGY OF ALCOHOLISM Volume 1: Biochemistry Edited by Benjamin Kissin and Henri Begleiter Division of Alcoholism and Drug Uependence Department of Psychiatry State University of New York Downstate Medical Center Brooklyn, New York g:? SPRINGER SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, LLC 1971 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 74-131883 ISBN 978-1-4615-6527-7 ISBN 978-1-4615-6525-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4615-6525-3 © 1971 Springer Science+ Business Media New York Originally published by Plenum Press, New York in 1971 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1971 All rights reserved No part of this publication may he reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher Contributors to This Volume Ronald A. Arky, Department of Medicine, Har Harold Kalant, Department of Pharmacology, vard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts University of Toronto, Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Research Foundation, Toronto, James D. Beard, Alcohol Research Center, Ten Ontario, Canada nessee Psychiatric Hospital and Institute, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, David H. Knott, Alcoholism Treatment Center, University of Tennessee, College of Basic Tennessee Psychiatric Hospital and Insti Medical Sciences, Memphis, Tennessee tute, Department of Physiology and Bio physics, University of Tennessee, College Joanne Coffey, Frances Stern Nutrition Clinic, of Basic Medical Sciences, Memphis, Ten Tufts-New England Medical Center, Bed nessee lord, Massachusetts Chauncey D. Leake, University of California, Leonore M. DeCarli, Section of Liver Disease San Francisco, California and Nutrition, Bronx Veterans A dministra tion Hospital, Bronx, New York Carroll M. Leevy, Division of Hepatic M etabo lism and Nutrition, Department of Medi Aaron Feldstein, Worcester Foundation lor Ex· cine, New Jersey College of Medicine, perimental Biology, Shrewsbury, Massa Martland Hospital Unit, Newark, New Jer chusetts sey and East Orange Veterans Administra tion Hospital, East Orange, New Jersey Edmund B. F1ink, Department of Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, Charles S. Lieber, Section of Liver Disease and West Virginia Nutrition, Bronx Veterans Administration Hospital, Bronx, New York and Department Samuel W. French, UCLA School of Medicine, of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medi cine of the City University of New York Harbor General Hospital, Torrance, Cali fornia Jack H. Mendelson, Department of Psychiatry, Nicholas Hodnett, Cuyahoga County Coroner's Harvard Medical School, Boston, M assachu Laboratory, Cleveland, Ohio setts v vi Contributors to This Volume James M. Orten, Department of Biochemistry, Abdul Kerim Tanribilir, Division of Hepatic Wayne State University School of M edi Metabolism and Nutrition, Department of cine, Detroit, Michigan Medicine, New Jersey College of Medicine, Martland Hospital Unit, Newark, New Jer Emanuel Rubin, Department of Pathology, sey and East Orange Veterans Administra Mount Sinai School of Medicine of the City tion Hospital, East Orange, New Jersey University of New York Edward B. Truitt, Jr., Battelle Memorial Insti Vishwanath M. Sardesai, Departments of Bio tute, Columbus, Ohio chemistry and Surgery, Wayne State Uni versity School of Medicine, Detroit, Michi Joseph J. Vitale, Nutrition-Pathology Unit, gan Mallory Institute of Pathology, Nutrition Programs, Tufts University School of M edi Milton Silverman, University of California, San cine, Frances Stern Nutrition Clinic, Tufts Francisco, California New England Medical Center, Bedford, Massachusetts Francis Smith, Division of Hepatic Metabolism and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, Henrik Wallgren, Research Laboratories of the New Jersey College of Medicine, Martland State Alcohol Monopoly ( ALKO), Hel· Hospital Unit, Newark, New Jersey and sinki, Finland East Orange Veterans Administration Hos pital, East Orange, New Jersey Michael J. Walsh, The Ohio State University Irving Sunshine, Cuyahoga County Coroner's College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio Laboratory, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, J. P. van Wartburg, M edizinisch-chemisches ln Ohio stitut, Universitiit Bern, Berne, Switzerland Preface Ethyl alcohol is perhaps the most versatile of all pharmacologic agents. It is a depressant but can produce excitement. It is a satisfactory food yet it increases appetite. When ingested, it raises body temperature; when applied externally, it lowers fever. It is an antiseptic and a counter irritant and when poured into an automobile radiator, it is even an effective antifreeze. The multiplicity of these effects is related as much to the unique physical qualities of ethanol as to its chemical effects. It is a highly diffusible liquid, very soluble in water and an excellent solvent of fatty substances. Yet in low concentrations it is relatively nontoxic unlike acetaldehyde, which in many respects it resembles. Furthermore, ethanol has a simple chemical structure which permits it to be metabolized readily; indeed it is itself an end product of certain metabolic processes. Consequently, ethanol can enter every cell, every organ, every system and can affect every level of animal activity. Given the biological compatability of the agent and the organism, it needed the opportunity for these two to come together. The opportunity was only too ready in nature. Naturally fermenting honey produced mead-probably the first alcoholic beverage known to paleolithic man-fermented grain produced beer, and aging grapes offered wine. Man, the most intelligent of animals, was quick to conceptualize these relationships, and, for his own reasons, to decide they were good. There is at least one anthropologic theory that postulates that the neolithic agricultural revolution was motivated more by the thirst for beer than vii viii Preface by the hunger for bread. In any case, once a steady supply was assured, alcohol was to play a persistent role in the history of mankind. With alcohol came alcoholism. The medical, psychological, social, and economic significances of alcoholism are too well known to need restatement. Here it is our purpose to attempt to describe, in organized fashion, the present state of our knowledge of the biological mechanisms involved in the develop ment of alcoholism. Since these involve the interaction of the agent and the organism, the interactional approach has been adopted throughout. Accord ingly, the chapters have been organized to emphasize the biological interaction of ethanol and animal at given levels of activity-metabolic, biochemical, physiological, or behavioral. From this, we hope, the reader will receive a clearer picture of the biological mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis and pheno menology of alcoholism. Benjamin Kissin Henri Begleiter New York City, December 1970 Contents of Volume 1 Biochemistry Contents of Volume 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvn Contents of Volume 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxv Chapter 1 Absorption Diffusion, Distribution, and Elimination of Ethanol: Effects on Biological Membranes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 by Harold Kalant Absorption, Distribution, and Elimination ...................................... . 1 Physical Chemistry of Alcohols ............................................... . 2 Diffusion of Alcohols Across Biological Membranes .................... . 4 Percutaneous Absorption ...................................................... . 5 Absorption Across Mucosal Membranes ................................... . 6 Absorption from Injection Sites ............................................... . 12 Distribution ........................................................................ . 13 Elimination ......... ............... ...... ..................... ... .................... 21 Blood Alcohol Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Effects on Biological Membranes .................................................. . 32 Structures and Special Functions of Biological Membranes . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Alcohols and Membrane Stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Effects on Membrane Permeability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 ix
The list of books you might like
