Abstract
The evaluation of acetaldehyde blood levels is important in view of possible toxic effects in the acute and chronic alcohol intoxication. Artefactual formation of acetaldehyde and its binding to erythrocyte components are the main problems that scientists have faced with in the measurement of acetaldehyde blood levels. The results reported herein show that addition of butyraldehyde as internal standard to the blood immediately after withdrawal allows to obviate these inconveniences. Aldehydes converted into their 2,4-dinitrophenylhydra-zones are then analyzed by HPLC. The mean value of acetaldehyde blood concentration measured by this method in 15 healthy subjects was 12.2 ± 1.3 μM. The increase of acetaldehyde concentration in rabbits after ethanol infusion is also shown.