Lansoprazole and Ethanol Metabolism: Comparison with Omeprazole and Cimetidine

Since some antisecretory drugs such as cimetidine and ranitidine, interfere with ethanol metabolism by inhibition of hepatic and/or gastric alcohol dehydrogenase, we investigated the effect of lansoprazole, a new protonic pump inhibitor, on gastric and hepatic alcohol dehydrogenase activity. We also compared the lansoprazole effect with that of omeprazole and cimetidine, respectively. Ethanol blood concentration after oral intake or intravenous administration of ethanol was estimated either in normal male human volunteers or in male rats before and after one week pretreatment with lansoprazole, omeprazole and cimetidine. Furthermore, the in vitro effect of these drugs was studied on both human and rat gastric and hepatic alcohol dehydrogenases. Finally, we measured the effect of the treatment on the reduced hepatic glutathione to test the effects of the drugs on first-pass metabolism of ethanol. The results reported in this paper indicate that lansoprazole, as well as omeprazole, does not affect ethanol metabolism, and that protonic pump inhibitors seem to be safer than imidazole-derived drugs in subjects unable to reduce ethanol intake during conditions requiring acid secretion inhibition.