Effect of aluminium hydroxide and glycopyrrhonium on the absorption of ethambutol and alcohol in man.

1 The effect of aluminium hydroxide and/or of glycopyrrhonium on the absorption of a single oral 50 mg/kg dose of ethambutol (EMB) was investigated on thirteen tuberculous in-patients and on two groups of healthy volunteers with six subjects each. The EMB concentrations in serum and 10+h urine were measured by colorimetry. 2 In order to assess gastric emptying the healthy volunteers ingested ethanol, either 0.5 g/kg in 10% solution or 0.8 g/kg in 20% solution, simultaneously with the drug, and breath alcohol levels were measured repetitively. 3 Aluminium hydroxide significantly lowered the serum EMB levels of the patients during the first 4 h after the EMB intake. No consistent effect was found in the first student experiment, whereas in the second experiment aluminium hydroxide and glycopyrrhonium, alone or in combination, clearly retarded the EMB absorption. 4 Repeated breath alcohol analysis proved unsuitable to indicate the time course of gastric emptying in these circumstances.