Toxicology of selected pesticides, drugs, and chemicals. Short-chain alcohols.

Widespread utilization of short-chain alcohols in solvents and alcoholic beverages provides small animals with numerous opportunities for exposure. Toxicosis most commonly occurs following ingestion but may also arise from inhalation and/or dermal absorption. The actions of short-chain alcohols are believed to result from nonspecific interactions with biomembranes altering the function of membrane-bound proteins, including the GABAA receptor. Mortality in alcohol toxicosis typically occurs because of respiratory and cardiac arrest as a result of profound CNS depression; therefore, general measures for resuscitation prevail in the initial treatment of severe alcohol toxicosis. Metabolism of alcohols alters the redox state in the liver, leading to hypoglycemia and lactic acidosis in some cases. In primates, treatment for methanol toxicosis is aimed at reducing accumulation of formate, thereby diminishing the metabolic acidosis and ocular damage characteristic in these species.