Sorbitol

Sorbitol is a laxative found in fruits. Since it has a sweet taste, sorbitol is used in sweetening cough syrups and some sugarless candies. Sorbitol is also used with activated charcoal in some oral overdoses or poison ingestions.

Sorbitol is freely soluble in water (up to 83%), soluble in methanol, isopropanol, butanol, cyclohexanol, phenol, acetone, acetic acid, dimethylformamide, pyridine, acetamide solution. It is practically insoluble in most other organic solvents. It is quite soluble in hot alcohol, sparingly soluble in cold alcohol.

Precautions

You should take special care in taking sorbitol if you have any of the following conditions:

• intolerance to fructose (may be fatal)
• anuria
• cardiopulmonary disease
• renal dysfunction
• diabetes mellitus
• hyponatremia
• uraemia

Interactions

No significant interactions are known.

Side effects and overdose

Abdominal cramping and diarrhoea are the most common effects from overdose of sorbitol. The purgative effects usually appear after ingestion of 50g or more of sorbitol in most adults.

Other side effects related with very large doses of sorbitol might include:

• metabolic acidosis
• electrolyte loss
• diuresis
• urinary retention
• oedema
• xerostomia
• thirst
• dehydration
• pulmonary congestion
• hypotension
• sinus tachycardia
• angina-like pains
• thrombophlebitis
• blurred vision
• seizures
• nausea/vomiting
• gastrointestinal mucosal injury
• colonic necrosis
• hyperglycaemia

The LD50 for sorbitol for oral administration in rats is 15,900mg/kg (15.9g). No data regarding humans is available.

Related information: Sorbitol Toxicology