First-pass metabolism of ethanol in human beings: effect of intravenous infusion of fructose.

Intravenous infusion of fructose has been shown to enhance reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide reoxidation and, thereby, to enhance the metabolism of ethanol. In the current study, the effect of fructose infusion on first-pass metabolism of ethanol was studied in human volunteers. A significantly higher first-pass metabolism of ethanol was obtained after administration of fructose in comparison with findings for control experiments with an equimolar dose of glucose. Because fructose is metabolized predominantly in the liver and can be presumed to have virtually no effects in the stomach, results of the current study support the assumption that only a negligible part of first-pass metabolism of ethanol occurs in the stomach.