Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
[13] [2] [3] The rate of distribution depends on blood supply, [4] specifically the cross-sectional area of the local capillary bed and the blood flow per gram of tissue. [13] As such, ethanol rapidly affects the brain, liver, and kidneys , which have high blood flow. [ 2 ]
The amount of moisture in the environment in which a corpse decomposes also has an effect on the rate of decomposition. [11] Humid environments will speed up the rate of decomposition and will influence adipocere formation. [11] In contrast, more arid environments will see corpses dry up faster and decompose more slowly. [11]
Decomposition in animals is a process that begins immediately after death and involves the destruction of soft tissue, leaving behind skeletonized remains. The chemical process of decomposition is complex and involves the breakdown of soft tissue, as the body passes through the sequential stages of decomposition. [2]
The rate of decomposition is governed by three sets of factors: the physical environment (temperature, moisture and soil properties), the quantity and quality of the dead material available to decomposers, and the nature of the microbial community itself. [64] Decomposition rates are low under very wet or very dry conditions.
Internal factors that affect the rate of putrefaction include the age at which death has occurred, the overall structure and condition of the body, the cause of death, and external injuries arising before or after death. External factors include environmental temperature, moisture and air exposure, clothing, burial factors, and light exposure.
The microsomal ethanol oxidizing system (MEOS) is an alternate pathway of ethanol metabolism that occurs in the smooth endoplasmic reticulum in the oxidation of ethanol to acetaldehyde. While playing only a minor role in ethanol metabolism in average individuals, MEOS activity increases after chronic alcohol consumption.
Alcohol dehydrogenase activity varies between men and women, between young and old, and among populations from different areas of the world. For example, young women are unable to process alcohol at the same rate as young men because they do not express the alcohol dehydrogenase as highly, although the inverse is true among the middle-aged. [37]
Alcohol metabolism generates genotoxic acetaldehyde and reactive oxygen species. [23] The possible mechanisms for its carcinogenicity include formation of the possible mutagen acetaldehyde, and the induction of the cytochrome P450 system which is known to produce mutagenic compounds from promutagens. [24]