[Chemical mechanism of the effect of alcohol].

The formation of tetrahydro-isoquinoline alkaloids in human and animal metabolisms subsequent to alcohol consumption is reported. The spectrum of identified products ranges from simple structures such as salsolinol to the complicated skeleton of protoberberines. These substances, hitherto found exclusively in plants, interfere with the biosynthesis, biodegradation and neurotransmission of the structurally closely related biogenic amines from which they are formed, and thus affect the vegetative nervous system.