The Failure of Oxygen, Oxygen—Carbon Dioxide, or Pyruvate to Alter Alcohol Metabolism

Letter to the Editor in Regard to Baek, Lee, and Kwon (2010): “Influence of Dissolved Oxygen Concentration on the Pharmacokinetics of Alcohol in Humans”

“…As early as the 1890s, oxygenated absinthes were touted as having several health benefits including the counteraction of the detrimental effects of alcohol on metabolism, however, while retaining the stimulating effect (Nathan‐Maister, 2008). In the 1920s, it was noted in animal experiments that the symptoms of alcohol intoxication could be counteracted by inhalation of oxygen (van Wulfften Palthe, 1926), while several experiments in humans during the 1930s (Barach, 1934; Butler, 1936; Fleming and Reynolds, 1935) and later animal experiments (Kinard et al., 1951; Larsen, 1968; Mattie, 1963) were unable to re‐produce this effect. In contrast, in vitro results with rat liver slices or perfused rat livers showed a link between O 2 saturation and the rate of ethanol elimination (Gordon, 1968; Videla and Israel, 1970).…”