Effect of ethanol on fatal carbon monoxide poisoning in awake mice [correction of rats].
The effect of ethanol on fatal carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning was investigated in mice injected intraperitoneally with ethanol. Ethanol (1.5 and 3.0 g/kg) was injected 15 min prior to exposure to gas containing 6.6% CO. The survival period was significantly lengthened with ethanol in proportion to the doses injected, although the carboxyhemoglobin (CO-Hb) saturation level in postmortem blood was almost the same in all groups. On the other hand, the CO-Hb level in the blood of mice injected with ethanol was significantly lower than that of control mice during the early exposure period when all mice were still alive. Our results showed that the acute ethanol injection did not influence the CO-Hb saturation level in blood at death, but did affect the duration of survival, probably because of ethanol's ability to decrease blood flow and CO intake.
Tomita
M
M
Department of Legal Medicine, Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki, Japan.
Okuyama
T
T
Shimosato
K
K
Kondo
Y
Y
Ijiri
I
I
D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000187:drug effects; D002248:Carbon Monoxide / Q000097:blood*; D002249:Carbon Monoxide Poisoning / Q000097:blood* / Q000517:prevention & control; D002263:Carboxyhemoglobin / Q000378:metabolism; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR
D000431:Ethanol; D002248:Carbon Monoxide; D002263:Carboxyhemoglobin