Effect of a high dose of ethanol on serum pancreatic enzymes in young healthy adults.

Short-term effects of a high dose of ethanol on the serum activities of pancreatic enzymes were studied in young healthy adults. There were 10 males and 10 females in the study group, and two males and three females in the control group. In the study group, ethanol (2 g/kg of body weight) was given during 4 h, resulting in the blood ethanol level of 1.6 +/- 0.3 g/l at 6 h. No significant changes in serum pancreatic enzyme activities were observed in the control group during the 56-h experiment. In the study group, none of the individuals demonstrated a marked increase (double from the baseline) in serum pancreatic enzyme activities. In the male study group, the serum total amylase activity increased slightly at 6 h, but the serum pancreatic isoamylase activity remained unchanged. These data suggest that, in nonalcoholic individuals, short-term exposure to a high dose of ethanol does not induce such injury in the pancreas that would appear as a leak of enzymes from the acinar cells into the circulation.