Methanol (CH3OH) is converted by alcohol dehydrogenases to formaldehyde (CHO), a compound that is highly toxic in the human. Patients who have ingested toxic levels of methanol are sometimes treated...

Methanol (CH3OH) is converted by alcohol dehydrogenases to formaldehyde (CHO), a compound that is highly toxic in the human. Patients who have ingested toxic levels of methanol are sometimes treated with ethanol (CH3CH2OH) to inhibit methanol oxidation by alcohol dehydrogenase. Which of the following statements provides the best rationale for this treatment?

(A) Ethanol is a structural analog of methanol, and might therefore be an effective noncompetitive inhibitor. (B) Ethanol is a structural analog of methanol that would be expected to compete with methanol for its binding site on the enzyme. (C) Ethanol would be expected to alter the Vmax of alcohol dehydrogenase for the oxidation of methanol to formaldehyde. (D) Ethanol would be an effective inhibitor of methanol oxidation regardless of the concentration of methanol. (E) Ethanol would be expected to inhibit the enzyme by binding to the formaldehyde binding site on the enzyme, even though it cannot bind at the substrate binding site for methanol.