A new method for the determination of blood ethanol levels in rodents.

A procedure is described for the estimation of ethanol in blood of rodents. The procedure is based on the same principle as the breath analyzer method used with human subjects. Using a specifically designed mask, samples of rebreathed air are collected under equilibrium conditions. These are injected directly into gas chromatograph for the quantitation of ethanol. We determined the conversion factor for calculating blood ethanol levels from those determined in breath to be 1:2857. The method was validated by comparing blood (from the jugular vein) and breath values obtained on the same animal after the administration of various doses of ethanol either intraperitoneally or intragastrically.