[LakeMountD]

Ethanol Acutely Stimulates Islet Blood Flow, Amplifies Insulin Secretion, and Induces Hypoglycemia via Nitric Oxide and Vagally Mediated Mechanisms
Zhen Huang and Åke Sjöholm

Karolinska Institutet, Department of Internal Medicine, Stockholm South Hospital, SE-118 83 Stockholm, Sweden

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Åke Sjöholm, Karolinska Institutet, Department of Internal Medicine, Stockholm South Hospital, SE-118 83 Stockholm, Sweden. E-mail: ake.sjoholm@sodersjukhuset.se.

Hypoglycemia induced by alcohol ingestion is a well-known problem in diabetic patients. However, the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon have largely remained elusive. Because insulin secretion in vivo can be rapidly tuned by changes in pancreatic microcirculation, we evaluated the influence of acute alcohol administration on pancreatic islet blood flow (IBF), and dynamic changes in insulin secretion and glycemia in the rat. Ethanol (10%) or saline was iv injected as a bolus into Wistar rats, yielding serum ethanol concentrations of approximately 8 mmol/liter. Measurements of pancreatic blood flow (PBF) were performed by a microsphere technique in combination with a freeze-thawing technique after 10-min injection. Ethanol preferentially and significantly increased pancreatic IBF approximately 4-fold, whereas not influencing whole PBF. The alcohol also augmented late-phase insulin secretion and induced late hypoglycemia upon ip glucose tolerance tests. The nitric oxide synthase inhibitor N-w-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester and atropine prevented the increased pancreatic IBF, enhanced insulin secretion, and hypoglycemia evoked by ethanol. Thus, our findings demonstrate that ethanol acutely exerts substantial influences on pancreatic microcirculation by evoking a massive redistribution of PBF from the exocrine into the endocrine part via mechanisms mediated by nitric oxide and vagal stimuli, augmenting late-phase insulin secretion, and thereby evoking hypoglycemia. This effect may in part underlie the well-known hypoglycemic properties of alcohol in diabetic patients or in alcoholics with hepatic failure.

[thesinner]

Interesting.

I'll bet the hypoglycemia adds to the sensation of feeling drunk.

[EasyEJL]

Does drinking methanol instead fix this problem?

[LakeMountD]

Actually that makes you go blind .

[thesinner]

Originally Posted by EasyEJL

Does drinking methanol instead fix this problem?

Originally Posted by LakeMountD

Actually that makes you go blind .

Yeah, actually the main metabolite of ethanol that "get's ya drunk" is acetaldehyde.

Detoxifying the body of ethanol goes ethanol -> Acetaldehyde -> Acetate

For methanol it goes:
Methanol -> formaldehye -> formate (formic acid)

Formic acid destroys your retina.

Once you've gotten a li'l tipsy while drinking, there's really no sense in drinking more (although most usually do because they're too drunk to know any better). Since the "effect" is mediated via an enzyme, conversion will get backed up after a while, and you won't get any "more drunk" but rather impend the time it takes you to sober up and increase your risk of alcohol poisoning.

[jonny21]

I would think it was the elevation of triglycerides.

[nicenotty12]

Originally Posted by EasyEJL

Does drinking methanol instead fix this problem?

Yes i have the same question.