An experimental study on the role of naloxone in facilitating alcohol metabolism in acute alcohol intoxication rats.

OBJECTIVES

Naloxone has been used in acute alcohol intoxication (AAI) in China and some other Asian countries. However, the effects of naloxone on alcohol metabolism and its mechanisms are unclear. This study aimed to explore the role of naloxone in facilitating alcohol metabolism.

METHODS

AAI rat model was established by force-feeding alcohol. The effect of naloxone in facilitating alcohol metabolism was detected using an improved breathalyzer. The open field test (OFT) was also used to observe the behavioral changes in rats.

RESULTS

By breathalyzer, naloxone could promote alcohol metabolism in a dose-dependent manner. Naloxone could promote the arousal of rats and increase the spontaneous activity of rats. But Cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) protein and mRNA showed no significant changes. Naloxone promotes alcohol metabolism, and the changing trend of blood alcohol concentration shows a good pharmacokinetics-pharmacodynamics (PK-PD) correlation with adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) expression and behavioral changes in rats.

CONCLUSION

We established a method via gas collection bottles to evaluate the metabolic activity of CYP2E1 and alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) in rats and established a metabolic model reflecting the changes in segmented alcohol concentrations over time. Naloxone could promote alcohol metabolism by promoting arousal, which is beneficial to AAI.