Acetoin: Polarographic Determination and Disappearance from the Blood after Administration

Acetoin (acetylmethylcarbinol) has been found in minute amounts in normal human urine (1) and in the blood of the cow, pig, sheep, and horse (2, 3). Westerfeld, Stotz, and Berg (4) have reported that in dogs the rate of disappearance of alcohol from the blood was increased by the administration of pyruvate and that of pyruvate by the administration of alcohol. They interpret their results as indicating that acetaldehyde, produced by a primary oxidation of alcohol, may be condensed with pyruvate to form acetoin. They suggest that this reaction may furnish an explanation for a relationship between the metabolism of alcohol and of carbohydrate. Support is given to their suggestion by the fact that pyruvic acid is a product of the normal metabolism of dextrose and that the condensation of acetaldehyde and pyruvic acid to form acetoin is known to occur in the metabolic activity of yeast and bacteria. Green, Westerfeld, Vennesland, and Knox (5) have demonstrated this condensation in vitro with enzymes from tissues of various animals. Westerfeld, Stotz, and Berg did not test their interpretation of alcohol metabolism by making determinations for acetoin in the blood of the dogs to which they gave alcohol and pyruvate. The investigation reported here is preliminary to such determination (6). The disappearance of acetoin from the blood following its administration was studied, since the possibility exists that it may be so rapid as to prevent the accumulation of appreciable amounts of acetoin.