Dose-dependent alcohol elimination rates of pigtailed macaques.

Abstract

Alcohol elimination was studied in 2 pigtailed macaques which were alcohol-naive and 2 which had had free access to H2O and a 10% (v/v [vol/vol]) alcohol solution for 230 days. The 2 monkeys had median daily consumptions of 3.10 and 2.15 g of alcohol per kg of body wt, respectively, and were classified as a high or low drinker. After 18 h of food and alcohol deprivation the monkeys received 1.5 g of alcohol per kg in the form of 25% alcohol-orange drink solution by nasogastric tube and blood samples were taken hourly for 7 h. The high drinker eliminated alcohol at a higher rate (118.4 mg/kg per h) than did the other animals while the rates of the low drinker and the controls were similar (97.6 vs. 101.2 and 106.5 mg/kg per h).