ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to identify alcohol pharmacokinetics and to investigate the correlations between various factors for alcohol metabolism of healthy Korean males. METHODS: The 101 recruited volunteers were randomized into two groups as one group provided 0.35 mg/mL/kg and 0.7 mg/mL/kg, the other. Blood alcohol concentration was measured and analyzed in enzymatic methods eight times from drinking point. RESULTS: Alcohol elimination rate (beta) was found to be -0.0083%/h for low dose group and -0.0157%/h for the high dose group. The results indicate discrepancy in the legal criteria of alcohol elimination rate (-0.008%/h). The measured alcohol pharmacokinetic properties were following : mean time to reach maximum alcohol concentration in blood was 30 minutes, absorption rate was 0.0197%, maximum alcohol concentration in blood was 0.4930%, and Area under the curve was 59.25. Also, alcohol elimination was not affected by age, smoking, total body water, drinking capacity, body mass index, blood cholesterol, body fat, and body fat ratio. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that legal limitation could be adjusted in Korean males. Also the research should be extended including female and senior citizens for statistical significance of the research. These findings have contributed to our knowledge of the alcohol pharmacokinetics in Korean male.