[Rate of ethanol clearance after oral and parenteral ethanol administration]. / Die Ethanol-Konzentrationsabfallraten nach oraler und nach parenteraler Ethanolapplikation.

A crossover investigation of the ethanol concentration decline after oral and parenteral administration of ethanol respectively was performed with direct intra- and interindividual comparison. No significant differences in relation to the kind of administration were noted. An influence of the circadian rhythm on the rate of decline could be excluded. The low beta 60 values derived (average: 0.111 g/kg/h) can be explained by the long period over which the probands were denied food.

[Pharmacokinetic interactions between alcohol and acetylsalicylic acid]. / Pharmakokinetische Wechselwirkungen zwischen Alkohol und Acetylsalicylsäure.

Twelve healthy test subjects ingested 0.75 g alcohol/kg body weight in 500 ml carbon dioxide-free mineral water and 1,000 mg powdered acetylsalicylic acid (on average, 13.1 mg/kg body weight) on an empty stomach at 9 a.m. to test the interaction between alcohol and acetylsalicylic acid. Whereas acetylsalicylic acid does not have any effect on the kinetics of alcohol, alcohol effects the metabolism of acetylsalicylic acid. However, an additional restriction of psychophysical performance was not observed.

[Air embolism or putrefaction? Gas analysis findings and their interpretation]. / Luftembolie oder Fäulnis? Gasanalytische Befunde und ihre Interpretation.

Gas was detected in the hearts of 111 necropsy cases. The gas was quantified and then analyzed by gas chromatography. In 70 cases H2, a clear marker of putrefaction, could be identified in the samples. After critical consideration, air embolism was accepted in 36 of the remaining cases. In nearly all instances, severe skull trauma or stab wounds to the neck or clavicular region gave rise to the air embolism. When the gas analysis data were compared, clear-cut differences were found between the two groups of putrefaction and air embolism. CO2 concentrations below 15%, N2 concentrations above 70%, and a CO2/N2 ratio below 0.2 proved to be good criteria to determine an air embolism. However, gas volumes, O2 concentrations, and CO2/O2 ratios largely overlapped in the two groups. Air embolism samples consistently had lower O2 concentrations and higher CO2 concentrations than atmospheric air, and this was evidently independent from incipient putrefaction. We suggest that these deviations result from a gas exchange between the venous blood and the embolized air volume taking place in the right heart ventricle. The dimensions of the concentration shifts may be understood from severe agonal hypoxia and hypercapnia.

[Pharmacokinetic studies after oral and parenteral application of dipotassium chlorazepate (author's transl)]. / Pharmakokinetische Untersuchungen nach oraler und parenteraler Applikation von Dikalium-chlorazepat.

Pharmacokinetic investigations after oral and intravenous application of 50 mg and 100 mg 7-chloro-2,3-dihydro-2,2-dihydroxy-5-phenyl-1H-1,4-benzodiazepine-3-carbonic acid (dipotassium clorazepate, DPC, Tranxilium, Tranxène) were conducted with two groups of male subjects (A: N = 7; B: N = 6). DPC and its metabolites, nordiazepam (ND) and oxazepam (OX), were measured in blood and urine. After oral application of DPC the expected metabolite pattern was observed. But after i.v. infection of 50 mg or 100 mg DPC a rapid increase of DPC- and also ND-concentrations in the serum was shown. The pattern of the metabolites excreted in urine differed considerably between the groups with oral and i.v. administration of DPC. The possible causes of rapid biotransformation in the serum are discussed.

[Pharmacokinetic studies on interactions between dipotassium clorazepate and alcohol after oral application (author's transl)]. / Pharmakokinetische Untersuchungen über Wechselwirkungen zwischen Dikalium-chlorazepat und Alkohol nach oraler Applikation.

Pharmacokinetic investigations concerning possible interactions of an orally administered single dosage of 20 mg dipotassium clorazepate and ethanol were conducted with 14 male subjects. Blood alcohol concentrations did not appear to be influenced by dipotassium clorazepate or its metabolites nordiazepam and oxazepam. The increase in oxazepam glucuronide excreted in the urine, however, was statistically significant. Nordiazepam concentration in the serum differed considerably between the group with ethanol administration and the control group. This metabolization pattern is apparently the result of the inhibitory effect of ethanol on hydroxylization processes during biotransformation of the metabolite nordiazepam.

[Pharmacokinetic studies on absorption and excretion of oxazepam in Combination with alcohol (author's transl)]. / Pharmakokinetische Untersuchungen über Resorption und Ausscheidung von Oxazepam in Kombination mit Alkohol

The influence of 7-chloro-1,3-dihydro-3-hydroxy-5-phenyl 2H-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-one (oxazepam, Adumbran) (30 mg) on the effects produced by alcohol (0.75 g/kg) and vice versa was studied in 14 male test subjects using the following scheme: (A) alcohol; (B) placebo; (C) oxazepam; (D) oxazepam and alcohol combined; (E) alcohol given 30 min prior to oxazepam. Blood and serum levels were determined and excretion in the urine was tested during the 7-h duration of the experiment. The blood alcohol curves show a similar course, leading to the conclusion that oxazepam has no influence on the elimination of alcohol. Alcohol retrads the intestinal absorption of oxazepam but, on the other hand, does not show an effect on the specific metabolism of oxazepam.

[Gas chromatographic analysis of benzodiazepines. 2. Diazepam and its metabolites]. / Zur gaschromatographischen Analytik der Benzodiazepine. 2. Mitteilung: Diazepam und seine Metabolite

A gas-chromatographic method is reported which completely resolves diazepam and its major metabolites and thus enables the specific quantitation of these compounds after extraction from serum and urine. The sensitivity limits are about 3 ng/ml if 4 ml serum or urine are extracted.