Ethanol-1-C14 metabolism in alcoholics and nonalcoholics.

Metabolism of ethanol-1-C(14) was assessed in a group of alcoholic and nonalcoholic male subjects. All subjects were screened for absence of physical derangement. Subjects were also carefully matched by dietary, social, and environmental criteria. No differences in rate of output of C(l4)CO(2) were detected after ingestion of alcohol which produced concentrations of 50 to 60 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood. These data do not support the hypothesis that alcoholics metabolize ethanol more rapidly than nonalcoholics do.