Abstract
It is a well-known fact that after drinking the same amount of alcohol, women show more signs of the effects of alcohol than men of the same weight. It seems that the main factors responsible for sex differences in alcohol metabolism and influence are the relatively lower amount of body water related to body fat in women than men and lower gastric ADH activity in women, both of which enable women to reach higher BAC after drinking equivalent amounts of alcohol with men.
On the other hand, first-pass metabolism of alcohol during passing through the liver is more rapid in women, probably due to bigger liver mass in women than in men. It is proven that alcohol and sex hormones have bilateral influence on each other.
Women with more rapid alcohol elimination ability show higher levels of sex hormones in blood than the rest. It seems that the specific body constitution of the female organism as well as the unique combination of their sex hormones is responsible for the gender differences in alcohol influence.
Keywords: alcohol metabolism - gender differences - gastric ADH - blood alcohol concentration.