Deuterium and carbon-13 tracer studies of ethanol metabolism in the rat by 2H, 1H-decoupled 13C nuclear magnetic resonance

1-¹³C, 1,1-²H₂] ethanol and 2,2,2-²H₃] ethanol were administered to bile fistula rats. A new technique, ²H, ¹H-decoupled ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance, was used in attempting to account for the distribution of the isotopic species along the steroid skeleton of 3–45 mg of isolated bile acids. The technique revealed ²H incorporation at many carbon sites unambiguously, but has limitations as a quantitative ²H assay at these levels of sample availability.