A clear, colorless liquid rapidly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and distributed throughout the body. It has bactericidal activity and is used often as a topical disinfectant. It is widely... It is widely used as a solvent and preservative in pharmaceutical preparations as well as serving as the primary ingredient in alcoholic beverages.
- Mechanism
- Curator reviewed
Ethanol affects the brain’s neurons in several ways. It alters their membranes as well as their ion channels, enzymes, and receptors. Alcohol also binds directly to the receptors for acetylcholine, serotonin, GABA, and the NMDA receptors for glutamate. The sedative effects of ethanol are mediated through binding to GABA receptors and glycine receptors (alpha 1 and alpha 2 subunits). It also inhibits NMDA receptor functioning. In its role as an anti-infective, ethanol acts as an osmolyte or dehydrating agent that disrupts the osmotic balance across cell membranes.
- Primary indication
- For therapeutic neurolysis of nerves or ganglia for the relief of intractable chronic pain in such conditions as inoperable cancer and trigeminal neuralgia (tic douloureux), in patients for whom neurosurgical procedures are contraindicated.Curator reviewed · 14 structured indications
- Formula / weight
- C2H6O · 46.0684 g/mol (avg)
- First approval
- Canada, 1997 · United States, 1942
- Also known as
- 1-Hydroxyethane · Alcohol · Alcohol (ethyl) · Alcohol denatured · Alcohol, denatured
- Code names
- B3324 · Caswell No. 426 · Fema no. 2419 · NCI-C03134 · NSC-85228 · PM-6193-200 · USAF EK-1597
- Brand names
Resolves to
LFQSCWFLJHTTHZ-UHFFFAOYSA-NSMILESCCOWhat you can answer from here — as of September 23, 2026
Which drugs share a target with Ethanol, and which of those have an active Phase 3 trial?
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