Paper I — 2022 October (Supplementary) (2010 Scheme) — Q8

Paper I

2022 October (Supplementary) (2010 Scheme) · 40 marks · 120 min

Question

Ethyl alcohol in methyl alcohol poisoning

Q81 marksShort Answers★✓

Answer

Methyl alcohol is metabolized by alcohol dehydrogenase to formaldehyde and then formic acid — the toxic metabolites responsible for metabolic acidosis and retinal/optic nerve damage (blindness). Ethyl alcohol acts as an antidote because it has a much higher affinity for alcohol dehydrogenase than methanol does, competitively saturating the enzyme and blocking methanol’s conversion to its toxic metabolites, allowing unmetabolized methanol to be excreted renally instead.

Related Concepts

1. 1Ethyl and Methyl Alcohol

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