Parameter estimation in a three-compartment model for blood alcohol curves.

Models of alcohol input and absorption are crucial to the description and understanding of the effects of alcohol in the human body. In this paper, the pharmacokinetics of alcohol after oral administration are described by a three-compartment model with a supposed concentration-dependent absorption and elimination. The absorption of alcohol from the small intestine into the blood is represented by a first-order rate constant ka. To describe the delay in peak concentration of alcohol the gastric emptying rate is represented as a first-order parameter with a feedback control depending on the amount of alcohol remaining in the stomach. The alcohol ingestion can then be represented as a bolus input. The elimination process is described by a model similar to the Michaelis-Menten model for enzyme kinetics. Parameters are estimated by means of an iterative algorithm minimizing a non-linear function. A good fit of the model was obtained for blood alcohol curves from six men and six women who each had received an alcohol dose of 28.5 g on three consecutive days. It is concluded that the model can be recommended to describe adequately the absorption and elimination of alcohol.