Why does alcohol make you drunk?
In: Biology
Ethanol (alcohol) is converted into Ethanal (acetaldehyde) in the liver by Alcohol dehydrogenase (C2H6O(ethanol) → C2H4O(acetaldehyde)) Ethanal in the bloodstream causes you to feel and act drunk due to binding certain receptors in the brain, slowing down processes and neurological function (depressant).
Then it turns Ethanal into an acetic acid through Aldehyde dehydrogenase (C2H4O(acetaldehyde) → C2H4O2(acetic acid)) The acetate makes you feel hung over until you finish peeing it out.
EDIT: forgot that you don’t pee out Acetic acid. Your liver does one last step (C2H4O2(acetic acid) → acetyl-CoA → 3H2O + 2CO2) before peeing it out.
Ethanol (alcohol) binds to a number of receptors in the brain, turning some on and turning others off. The sum total of that effect is the drunkenness we observe.
Alcohol’s affinity for binding to GABA-A receptors in particular is thought to play a major role in intoxication, but the exact mechanism of how you get drunkenness from stimulating those receptors in that way is still not fully understood. There’s a lot of things we don’t know about the brain.
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