Premium
Biochemical Markers for Alcoholism
Author(s) -
Cushman P.,
Jacobson G.,
Barboriak J. J.,
Anderson A. J.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1984.tb05506.x
Subject(s) - alcohol abuse , abstinence , mean corpuscular volume , medicine , alcohol dependence , alcohol , liver disease , disease , physiology , gastroenterology , psychiatry , biology , biochemistry , hematocrit
A panel of blood tests, purportedly markers for alcohol abuse, were examined in 543 relatively healthy alcoholics entering ambulatory rehabilitation treatment Individual tests were too low in sensitivity: γ‐glutamyl transpeptidase was abnormally high in only 49%, then mean corpuscular volume (45%), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) (25%), serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) (28%), and blood alcohol (21%). HDLC was of low sensitivity, generally unaffected by liver disease, and related to quantitation of recent alcohol consumed. Combining seven markers, 82% of males and 71% females had at least one abnormally high value. Histories of heavy recent drinking, positive blood alcohol levels on admission, and manifest liver disease on physical examination or by hyperbilirubinemia were associated with high sensitivities of individual and pooled markers. The biochemical markers studied can be useful to suggest alcohol abuse, especially in some populations of drinkers. In other populations of alcoholics, especially with intermittent alcohol or recent abstinence, their sensitivities were so low as to discourage extensive reliance on their use. The diagnosis of alcoholism continues to depend on clinical history of alcohol‐related problems, including social, familial, legal, medical, psychological, and economic.