Ingestion of methanol is a medical emergency. It is often treated by administeri

Question

Ingestion of methanol is a medical emergency. It is often treated by administering ethanol, which prevents the dangerous effects of methanol metabolism. In the body, methanol is oxidized to formaldehyde (methanal), a toxic molecule that damages proteins (and many other biomolecules). Ethanol is oxidized by the same enzyme as methanol, alcohol dehydrogenase, to acetaldehyde, a metabolite that can be further processed and is less harmful to biomolecules. Why is ethanol given to patients that have ingested methanol? Justify your answer with an explanation that uses theory

Explanation / Answer

Methanol poisoning is treated by giving ethanol to patients because ethanol competes with methanol for the active site on the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase. So ethanol will be metabolized into acetaldehde which is less toxic. This is an example of reversible competitive inhibition.

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