Final answer:
Inhalation agents with low solubility in body tissues are metabolized in the liver, where they undergo drug metabolism to be transformed into less toxic products. The liver's role in detoxification and drug metabolism is crucial for processing ethanol, nicotine, and other substances, ultimately allowing for their excretion.
Step-by-step explanation:
Inhalation agents with low solubility in body tissues are primarily metabolized in the liver. The liver is responsible for the detoxification mechanism, transforming various substances through a process known as drug metabolism. It's important to note that although the metabolites are altered by the liver, the elimination from the body is a separate process. Substances like ethanol undergo a series of enzymatic reactions in the liver, eventually being converted to harmless products like carbon dioxide and water. This metabolic pathway can also be leveraged therapeutically, as in the case of ethanol therapy, which is administered for poisonings by agents like methanol and ethylene glycol.
Toxic substances such as nicotine and ammonia also undergo significant modification in the liver, where nicotine is broken down into various metabolites and toxic ammonia is converted into non-toxic urea. Other tissues can also participate in this process, thereby contributing to extra-hepatic metabolism, which can affect the overall clearance of a substance from the body.
In summary, the solubility of inhalation agents dictates how they are metabolized, and those with little solubility tend to be metabolized in the liver as part of the body's natural drug metabolism pathways.