EFFECT OF BODY-TEMPERATURE ON ACUTE ETHANOL TOXICITY

We studied the effect of elevated rectal temperature on ethanol toxicity and the effect of ethanol on the mean lethal temperature (LT50). The rectal temperature was maintained at a preselected level for 4 h. Ethanol (23% w/v) was injected i.p. In control mice anesthetized with pentobarbital, the 4 h LT50 was 41.8 ± 0.1°C (mean ± standard error). In mice which had received a non-lethal ethanol dose (6 g/kg), the LT50 was decreased to 39.0 ± 0.2°C (p< 0.001). In control mice, whose temperature dropped, the 4 h ethanol LD50 was 8.5 ± 0.8 g/kg. If the rectal temperature of the mice was maintained instead at a maximum of 38.5 - 40°C, the LD50 was decreased to 5.7 ± 0.8 g/kg (p < 0.02). The results show that ethanol increases the susceptibility of mice to hyperthermic damage, and conversely, that hyperthermia increases the toxicity of ethanol. © 1979.