Influence of ethanol on the salsolinol excretion in healthy subjects.

This report describes the change of salsolinol (SAL) levels in the urine of healthy subjects after ethanol ingestion. A new rapid method for SAL extraction from urine sample and a GC-MS assay were used to study the urinary SAL excretion in a group of adult males (n = 14) and females (n = 13) with and without ingestion of ethanol. The results of this study show that the urinary SAL output of all subjects is significantly influenced by the intake of ethanol. A decrease in the SAL level was found in the urine of most of the volunteers (n = 17), whereas only eight subjects showed an increase in the SAL level after administration of ethanol.