Does the metabolism of ethanol and acetaldehyde differ between normal young male and female subjects?
Sex differences exist in the metabolism of ethanol and acetaldehyde, with females showing a lower volume of distribution for ethanol and lower acetaldehyde exposure than males.
Blood ethanol and acetaldehyde concentrations were compared in normal young male and female subjects after intravenous infusion of 0.5 g of ethanol/kg body weight. After the infusion was completed, females had significantly higher mean concentrations of blood ethanol than males, but a significantly lower apparent volume of distribution (Vd) of ethanol (0.56 +/- 0.06 1/kg vs 0.68 +/- 0.17 1/kg, P less than 0.05). There were no differences in ethanol elimination rate (EER) (females 1.78 +/- 0.3 mmol h-1kg-1; males 1.87 +/- 0.41 mmol h-1kg-1). The mean value of the areas under the acetaldehyde/time curves (AUC) were significantly greater for males (88.5 +/- 26.4 mumol/1. h) than for females (58.6 +/- 31.5 mumol/1. h, P less than 0.05). Since the ethanol elimination rate was similar in both sexes, the observed differences in AUC for acetaldehyde may reflect the sex differences in metabolism of this substrate by the liver.
Arthur et al. (1984) studied this question.