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Comparative Evaluation of the Clinical Utility of Three Markers of Ethanol Intake: The Effect of Gender
Author(s) -
Halvorson Michael R.,
Campbell Jan L.,
Sprague Gwen,
Slater Karen,
Noffsinger Jimmie K.,
Peterson Charles M.
Publication year - 1993
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.1530-0277.1993.tb00753.x
Subject(s) - medicine , percentile , population , acetaldehyde , alcohol , gastroenterology , ethanol , alcohol intake , biology , biochemistry , statistics , mathematics , environmental health
We evaluated three markers of ethanol intake [whole blood associated acetaldehyde (WBAA), serum β ‐hexosaminidase, and γ ‐glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT)] in four groups of subjects: teetotalers ( n = 104), random insurance applicants or “normals”( n = 1,010), subjects enrolling in an alcohol treatment program or “alcoholics”( n = 31), and subjects attending outpatient drug/alcohol treatment follow‐up clinics ( n = 128). Significant differences ( p < 0.004 for each assay and each comparison) were found in the mean values between teetotalers and normals and normals and alcoholics. Male teetotalers and normals had significantly ( p < 0.002) higher levels of WBAA than females of the same group. Male normals had significantly higher levels of GGT than females ( p < 0.001). GGT increased with age in the normal population into the fifth decade and decreased thereafter. WBAA was the most sensitive assay with 97% of alcoholics having values above the 99th percentile for the teetotaler population (vs. 66% for serum β ‐hexosaminidase and 70% for GGT). None of the alcoholic subjects had values for all three assays below the 99th percentile for teetotalers compared with 21% of those in follow‐up and 72% of normals. We conclude that WBAA appears to be the best of the three markers studied and that measurement of multiple markers for ethanol use appears clinically useful and incremental.