Possible Interaction: Ethanol and Phenobarbital

“Thirdly, there are the problems of the interaction of phenobarbitone with alcohol , a potentially serious public health issue.”

“Both PB and CZ significantly reduced the ethanol withdrawal reaction compared to controls, and PB was significantly more effective than CZ.”

“Both ethanol and phenobarbital suppressed ethanol withdrawal sign in a dose-related manner, and produced dose-related intoxication.”

“Once every 3–4 days, ethanol was withheld for 16 h. Withdrawal signs were scored for the first 12 h of this period, and then a test dose of ethanol, phenobarbital , or baclofen was administered.”

“Early PhB exposure also caused long term decreased sensitivity to ethanol narcosis and an accelerated acquisition to barbiturate tolerance, possibly mediated via a change in the sensitivity of the post synaptic dopamine receptors.”

“It is concluded that ethanol inhibits the hydroxylation of phenobarbital in the rat.”

“The presence of alcohol ( ≤1.96 × 10–2 M) can increase the proportion of free phenobarbital and shorten the half-life and storage time of phenobarbital in the blood, thereby enhancing its bioactive efficacy.”

“ Phenobarbital administration resulted in significant … the rates of ethanol disappearance from the blood and in the concentration of protein per gram of liver wet weight; however, no changes were … the activities of either alcohol dehydrogenase or the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-dependent ethanol-oxidizing system determined in liver homogenates.”

“While this study demonstrates an enhancement of ethanol clearance from the blood after phenobarbital administration , the mechanism for this enhancement remains uncertain.”

“The results described support the belief that phenobarbitone potentiates some of the effects of ethyl alcohol.”

“R ~ C ~ N T L Y , attention was drawn to the lack of information concerning the effects of ethanol and barbiturates taken t0gether.l In 1934, Carriere, Huriez and Willoquet2 reported that ethanol antagonised the hypnotic effect and reduced the toxicity of phenobarbitone.”

“While the endogenous GABA content in the …-treated rats was not altered, phenobarbital significantly decreased GABA content of both intact and DSP-4-lesioned … and by approximately 20% in other brain regions at 1 h. Ethanol reduced GABA content by approximately 15-30% … of both intact and lesioned rats.”