Essentials of Pathophysiology (4th Edition) Edit edition

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The type of alcohol being referred to as ethyl alcohol (or ethanol), it has qualities that make it both fat-soluble and water-soluble. The presence of an ethyl group in its chemical structure allows ethyl alcohol to repel water while the presence of a hydroxyl group allows the attraction of water. The structure of ethanol is as follows:

Because the hydrophobic inside of the lipid bilayer allows, for the most part, only fat-soluble substances to penetrate the surface, the ethyl group allows ethyl alcohol to penetrate the surface.

Once it has entered the bilayer, ethyl alcohol encounters the water contained within the heads of the phospholipid molecules that comprise the bilayer. The hydroxyl group creates hydrogen bonds with the water. During this process, the negative electric charge contained within ethyl alcohol interacts with the positive charge contained within water.

Eventually, ethyl alcohol will dissolve, which will allow it to pass through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) into the central nervous system and to be absorbed from the digestive tract, which is attempting to excrete it, to the mouth.