Drug-alcohol flush reaction and breath acetaldehyde concentration: no interference with an infrared breath alcohol analyzer.
Human volunteers were given a small dose of ethanol (0.25 g/kg body weight) after pretreatment with either calcium carbimide (50 mg) or a placebo according to a crossover design. Calcium carbimide, an inhibitor of aldehyde dehydrogenase, caused intense facial flushing and a pronounced rise in the concentration of acetaldehyde in breath. At 15-min intervals throughout the experiment, breath-ethanol concentrations were determined both by gas chromatography (GC) (specific method) and by infrared (IR) spectrometry with an Intoxilyzer model 4011 breath-alcohol analyzer. The results with these two independent methods of analysis were compared in experiments with and without calcium carbimide pretreatment. The regression equations relating breath-ethanol determinations by GC and IR methods in the two test situations were not significantly different. The elevated breath concentrations of acetaldehyde associated with a drug-alcohol flush reaction do not invalidate the use of infrared breath-alcohol devices for evidential purposes.
D000079:Acetaldehyde / Q000032:analysis*; D000328:Adult; D001944:Breath Tests; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D003484:Cyanamide / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003486:Cyanides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004347:Drug Interactions; D000431:Ethanol / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D005483:Flushing / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared; D013997:Time Factors
D003486:Cyanides; D000431:Ethanol; D003484:Cyanamide; D000079:Acetaldehyde