Enzyme-coupled measurement of ethanol in whole blood and plasma with a centrifugal analyzer

We describe an automated enzymic method for ethanol determination with a centrifugal analyzer (the GEMSAEC) by measuring the rate of the reaction catalyzed by alcohol dehydrogenase and coupled to aldehyde dehydrogenase. The detection limits, reproducibility, and accuracy of the method have been evaluated. It can be applied to whole blood or plasma, with or without previous deproteinization. Our results, compared with those by an automated alcohol dehydrogenase method in the presence of semicarbazide, show an improved linearity, sensitivity, and rapidity of determination.