Plasma alcohol dehydrogenase in normal and alcoholic individuals.
Determination of plasma alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) in patients with alcohol-related disorders may be a valuable diagnostic and prognostic parameter. By using a sensitive spectrophotometric method we have measured the plasma ADH activity in chronic alcoholics, non-alcoholic psychiatric patients and healthy blood donors from Germany. Serum alanine aminotransferase (GPT) and serum gamma-glutamyltransferase (gamma-GT) values were included for the comparative study to assess the extent of hepatic complications. The results indicate that plasma ADH activity in alcoholics and non-alcoholic psychiatric patients was significantly raised only when higher GPT and gamma-GT values were observed, which may hint at a generalized liver damage. It is suggested that plasma ADH determination alone is not useful as a diagnostic marker of alcoholism but could be of value when measured in combination with other biochemical parameters.
D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D000426:Alcohol Dehydrogenase; D000429:Alcohol Oxidoreductases / Q000097:blood*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000201:enzymology*; D001782:Blood Donors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008108:Liver Diseases, Alcoholic / Q000201:enzymology; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000201:enzymology; D011379:Prognosis; D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase / Q000097:blood
D000429:Alcohol Oxidoreductases; D000426:Alcohol Dehydrogenase; D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase; D000410:Alanine Transaminase