Concentration changes of methanol in blood samples during an experimentally induced alcohol hangover state

A hangover is characterized by the unpleasant physical and mental symptoms that occur between 8 and 16 hours after drinking alcohol. After inducing experimental hangover in normal individuals, we measured the methanol concentration prior to and after alcohol consumption and we assessed the association between the hangover condition and the blood methanol level. A total of 18 normal adult males participated in this study. They did not have any previous histories of psychiatric or medical disorders. The blood ethanol concentration prior to the alcohol intake (2.26 ± 2.08) was not significantly different from that 13 hours after the alcohol consumption (3.12 ± 2.38). However, the difference of methanol concentration between the day of experiment (prior to the alcohol intake) and the next day (13 hours after the alcohol intake) was significant (2.62 ± 1.33/l vs. 3.88 ± 2.10/l, respectively). A significant positive correlation was observed between the changes of blood methanol concentration and hangover subjective scale score increment when covarying for the changes of blood ethanol level (r = 0.498, p < 0.05). This result suggests the possible correlation of methanol as well as its toxic metabolite to hangover.