The Effect of Cimetidine Treatment on Ethanol Formation in the Human Stomach

Abstract

Ethanol concentrations were determined in the gastric juice of 53 patients treated with a nasogastric tube. Significant ethanol concentrations ranging from 1 to 27 mmol/l were found in a subgroup of 29 patients receiving Cimetidine (n = 22) or antacids (n = 7). The mean ethanol concentration in these patients was hieher 1–2 h after a liquid meal (x ± SEM. 6.95 ± 2.6) than in the fasting state (3.44 ± 2.1; p < 0.05). In the second subgroup of 24 patients, who were not treated with Cimetidine or antacids, ethanol concentrations in gastric juice of more than 1 mmol/l were found in 6 cases, with maximal ethanol values of 2.2 mmol/l. The alcohol concentration correlated significantly with the pH of the gastric juice. It is assumed that an increase in the yeast anchor bacterial population in the stomach due to the reduction of gastric acidity induced by Cimetidine or antacids is responsible for the enhanced production of ethanol.

Key words:

• Alcohol
• antacids
• Cimetidine
• ethanol
• stomach