title: Metabolic interactions of xylitol and ethanol in healthy males.
abstract: The effects of oral administration of xylitol on the rate of ethanol elimination and on the ethanol-induced changes in blood concentrations of lactate and pyruvate were studied in seven healthy male subjects. Xylitol (1.0 g/kg body weight) was administered orally and ethanol (0.8 g/kg body weight) intravenously. In the control experiments glucose was given instead of xylitol. Xylitol had no significant effect on the rate of ethanol elimination or on the ethanol-induced increase in the blood lactate concentration. The ethanol-induced changes in the lactate/pyruvate ratio were not affected by xylitol. It is suggested that the ineffectiveness of xylitol is due to its low concentration in the liver after oral administration. Ethanol induced a 5--10 fold increase in the blood concentration of xylitol. This is most probably due to inhibition of xylitol oxidation in the liver by the ethanol-induced reduction in the hepatic redox state. The clinical significance of this finding is unknown.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D000431:Ethanol / Q000378:metabolism*; D005947:Glucose; D006801:Humans; D007773:Lactates / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D011773:Pyruvates / Q000097:blood; D014993:Xylitol / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D007773:Lactates; D011773:Pyruvates; D000431:Ethanol; D005947:Glucose; D014993:Xylitol