The effect of ethanol on the absorption, accumulation and biotransformation of xenobiotics by the isolated perfused rabbit lung.

The effects of acutely administered ethanol on absorption, accumulation and biotransformation of several model compounds were examined in the isolated perfused lung (IPL). To determine pulmonary accumulation imipramine and paraquat were studied. To determine the effect of ethanol on the absorption of substances from the airways into the blood sulfanilic acid was used as an example of a relatively lipid soluble compound while mannitol was chosen as a non-lipid soluble compound. Aldrin was chosen to demonstrate the effects of circulating ethanol on pulmonary biotransformation. The results obtained with imipramine and paraquat indicate that after a 60-min perfusion period 93% and 20% of the original amount added are respectively lost from the blood perfusate. Ethanol at an initial concentration of 300 mg/100 ml has no apparent effect either on the rate or the quantities accumulated by the lungs. When sulfanilic or mannitol were administered into the airways both compounds appeared in the perfusate and ethanol had no effect on this absorption. Finally we obtained evidence that aldrin is converted to dieldrin by the IPL but that the quantities metabolized are not modified by the presence of ethanol.