The influence of a 7-day medication of either cimetidine (1,000 mg per day) or ranitidine (300 mg per day) on serum ethanol concentrations after a single oral dose of ethanol (0.8 gm per kg body weight) was investigated in a randomized placebo-controlled study in eight male volunteers. Compared with the placebo, cimetidine but not ranitidine produced a significant increase in both the peak serum ethanol concentration (85.9 +/- 3.5 vs. 73.0 +/- 3.2 mg dl-1, p less than 0.02) and in the area under the serum ethanol concentration time curve (350 +/- 19 vs. 304 +/- 25 mg dl-1 hr-1, p less than 0.05). However, the ethanol elimination rate was not affected by cimetidine. When ethanol (1.0 gm per kg body weight) was administered intravenously, cimetidine failed to induce a change in ethanol metabolism. Furthermore, the effect of H2-receptor antagonists was studied in animal experiments. Female Sprague-Dawley rats received a single dose of ethanol (7 or 3 gm per kg body weight) together with an intraperitoneal injection of either cimetidine (120 mg per kg body weight), ranitidine (120 mg per kg body weight) or isotonic saline. After alcohol absorption, ethanol elimination was significantly inhibited by both cimetidine (3.99 +/- 0.39 vs. 5.68 +/- 0.23 mmoles kg-1 hr-1, p less than 0.02) and ranitidine (4.21 +/- 0.14 vs. 5.68 +/- 0.23 mmoles kg-1 hr-1, p less than 0.02) at high ethanol concentrations (60 to 20 mM) but not at blood ethanol concentrations below 20 mM.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Chronic ethanol consumption in rats resulted in a striking fat accumulation in the acinar cells of the parotid gland demonstrated by light microscopy. In addition, a significant decrease in parotid wet weight (p greater than 0.02) and in protein content of the gland (p greater than 0.02) was observed following alcohol feeding. Wet weight, protein content, and morphology of the submaxillar gland were not affected by ethanol feeding. Alcohol metabolism, similar to that found in the pancreas, via a cytosolic alcohol dehydrogenase could be demonstrated in both the parotid and the submaxillar gland. However, the activity of this enzyme was not affected by chronic ethanol ingestion. Subsequently, chronic ethanol consumption significantly decreased salivary flow rate stimulated by pilocarpine hydrochloride (p greater than 0.02), salivary alpha-amylase activity (p greater than 0.02), and salivary sodium concentration (p greater than 0.01), whereas potassium concentration of the saliva was increased (p greater than 0.05). In contrast salivary total protein concentration was not affected by alcohol ingestion. The changes of salivary electrolyte composition observed after chronic ethanol feeding could be due to an altered aldosterone metabolism or to a change in aldosterone receptors of the parotid gland caused by ethanol administration. The reduced salivary flow could play a role in the pathogenesis of oropharyngeal cancer in the alcoholic.

Zusammenfassung ▼Ziel: Retrospektive Bestimmung der Effektivität und Genauigkeit von CT-gesteuerten perkutanen Biopsien von malignen und entzündlichen Verän-derungen der Wirbelsäule und Bestimmung der Reliabilität der prä-interventionell durchgeführ-ten CT-und MRT-Bildgebung. Abstract ▼Purpose: To retrospectively determine the effectiveness and accuracy of CT-guided percutaneous biopsy of malignant and inflammatory bone lesions of the spine and to assess the reliability of pre-biopsy CT and MRI. Materials and Methods: 214 patients with lesions of the spine, which were suspicious either for being malignant or inflammatory, underwent CT-guided biopsy for pathological and/or microbiological detection. Biopsy samples were sent for histological examination in 128/214 patients, for microbiological analysis in 17/214 patients and for both analyses in 69/214 patients. Retrospectively, the diagnostic accuracy and sensitivity/specificity of the pre-interventional imaging (CT and MRI) were determined. In addition, the influence of the biopsy on subsequent patient management was assessed. Results: The accuracy was 94.4 % for histopathological analysis and 97.7 % for microbiological analysis. In 25 % of cases the microbiological analysis revealed an underlying pathogen that was not significantly affected by pre-biopsy antibiotic therapy. The sensitivity/specificity of the pre-biopsy crosssectional imaging concerning suspected malignancy was 69 %/78 %. For suspected infection, the sensitivity/specificity of pre-biopsy imaging was 81 %/ 44 %. In 52 % of all cases, the biopsy result changed subsequent patient management. Conclusion: Percutaneous CT-guided spine biopsy is a useful and reliable diagnostic procedure to establish a definitive diagnosis but with a relatively low yield of microorganisms in the case of infection.

A microsomal ethanol oxidizing system (MEOS) is present in the colonic mucosa of the rat. This MEOS metabolizes ethanol to acetaldehyde at the physiological pH of 7.4. Alcohol dehydrogenase or catalase are not involved in the reaction. The Michaelis Menten constant of the reaction is 13.7 +/- 0.3 mM and the maximal velocity is 219 +/- 30 pmoles acetaldehyde/mg microsomal protein X min. Bacterial ethanol metabolism does not contribute to the acetaldehyde production in the colonic MEOS. Chronic ethanol consumption has no effect on colonic MEOS activity. In addition, chronic ethanol ingestion does not affect colonic microsomal NADPH-cytochrome-c-reductase nor benzo(a) pyrene hydroxylase activity.