Changes in myocardial metabolism induced by ethanol administration

The utilization of ethyl alcohol in the myocardium and the reactions connected with its metabolism were investigated in rabbits which were given over a period of two months a 30% ethanol solution per os in a dosage of 1 g/kg body weight, and in a control group. Alcohol intoxication led to a reduction of the reserve of oxidized nicotinamide coenzymes, to an intensification of glycolytic processes, to slowed down utilization of substrates in the citric acid cycle and to an accumulation of less-oxidized metabolism products (dihydroxyacetone phosphate, lactate, pyruvate, malate, oxaloacetate, 2-oxoglutarate). A change was also observed in the myocardial microstructure. Metabolic changes are evidently one of the links of the pathogenetic mechanism of alcohol intoxication, which cause disorders in cardiac activity diagnosed as alcoholic myocardial dystrophy.