The widespread use of antimicrobial drugs has led to an increase in adverse reactions to the drugs. If alcohol is consumed while using antibiotics, it can cause fatal adverse reactions. What is going on here? To answer this question, we have to start with the metabolism of alcohol, also known as ethanol. Alcohol is broken down and metabolized in the body by two enzymes: one is ethanol dehydrogenase and the other is acetaldehyde dehydrogenase. Ethanol dehydrogenase can remove the two hydrogen atoms in the alcohol molecule, so that ethanol decomposition into acetaldehyde; and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase can remove the two hydrogen atoms in the acetaldehyde, so that acetaldehyde is decomposed into carbon dioxide and water. In response to this principle, people invented a drug called disulfiram, also known as withdrawal sulfur, which is a kind of alcohol cessation drug. Disulfiram can inhibit the activity of the enzyme of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, so that the decomposition process of acetaldehyde is blocked, thus making the concentration of acetaldehyde in the blood of the drinker increase, and the reactions of softness, dizziness, drowsiness, hallucination, flushing of the whole body, headache, nausea, vomiting, drop of blood pressure, and even shock, which makes the drinker feel uncomfortable, and to reach the We call this toxic reaction of acetaldehyde aggregation a disulfiram-like reaction. In addition to disulfiram, many antibiotics, especially cephalosporins, such as cefmetazole, cefamandole, cefoperazone, cefmenoxime, cefotiam, cephalosporin, etc., can also inhibit the activity of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, and if the patient at this time to drink alcohol will cause a similar disulfiram-like reaction, and a serious disulfiram-like reaction can cause death. In addition, both antibiotics and alcohol need to be metabolized by the liver, which may lead to liver damage and liver failure. Therefore, clinically, for patients using antibiotics, for the sake of completeness, we will remind them not to consume alcohol during the medication and for a week after stopping the medication. In fact, in addition to cephalosporin antibiotics, we also found that many other drugs can cause disulfiram-like reaction, such as metronidazole, tinidazole, ketoconazole, furazolidone, chloramphenicol, glibenclamide, phenelzine and other drugs. Therefore, you also need to abstain from alcohol while taking the above mentioned drugs.