The Effect of Ethanol on the Metabolic Rate of Rats

Alcohol injected intraperitoneally in a dose of 0.4 g/kg causes a small but significant elevation in the metabolic rate of anaesthetized rats. This effect appears to be masked in unanaesthetized rats, particularly with larger doses, presumably because of the sedative effect of the ethanol. Pretreatment with iproniazid (100 mg/kg) or phenoxybenzamine (10 mg/kg) failed to enhance or to block, respectively, the initial elevation in oxygen consumption induced by ethanol. These results suggest that the initial increase in oxygen consumption is brought about by some mechanism other than the release of adrenaline or of noradrenaline. Calculations suggest that this increase could be accounted for by preferential oxidation of ethanol in place of its caloric equivalent as glucose.