Alcohol increases the solubility of anaesthetics in the liver

Liver/gas partition coefficients for isoflurane, enflurane, halothane and methoxyflurane increased two-fold in rats killed 16 h after a single injection of 15% ethanol 7 g kg-1. In contrast, blood/gas and brain/gas partition coefficients did not change. Chronic (21 days) ingestion of ethanol increased liver/gas partition coefficients four-fold, although this increase was largely attributable to nutritional changes rather than to a direct effect of ethanol. Only minimal changes (usually not more than 15%) occurred in blood/gas and brain/gas partition coefficients. On account of this effect of ethanol on anaesthetic solubility in the liver, the ingestion of ethanol may modestly increase uptake of anaesthetic during the induction of anaesthesia.