Intragastrointestinal alcohol fermentation syndrome: report of two cases and review of the literature.

Abstract Two patients with frequent attacks of alcohol intoxication following the intake of an ordinary meal are presented. The causative agents were Candida albicans and C. krusei in the first case and C. albicans in the second. The essential factors of this syndrome were abnormal proliferation of the causative agent, abnormal stagnation of food in the alimentary tract, intake of a carbohydrate diet as the substrate for the alcohol fermentation and low threshold of the patient to alcohol. Thirty-seven other cases have been reported in Japan since 1952, with patients aged from 1 to 75 years. All those concerned with alcohol intoxication, especially in the forensic sciences, should bear this syndrome in mind.