Biochemical measures in the diagnosis of alcohol dependence using discriminant analysis.
BACKGROUND
Alcohol dependence often cannot be diagnosed based on self-report alone. Various biochemical and haematological parameters have been used to screen alcohol use disorders.


OBJECTIVE
To develop discriminant equations based on lipid and liver measures independently for identifying alcohol dependent and non-dependent subjects.


METHODS
Case control study in a tertiary care hospital.


METHODS
One hundred subjects fulfilling the criteria of alcohol dependence and seventy healthy controls were included. The socio-demographic details, caloric intake, height, weight and blood pressure were recorded. Samples were analysed for various lipid measures as well as liver function.


METHODS
Diagnostic values such as sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PV+), negative predictive value (PV-) and discriminant analysis.


RESULTS
Using discriminant analysis, two equations were constructed based on liver and lipid measures independently. 84.7% of the subjects on the basis of total cholesterol (TC), apolipoprotein B (ApoB) and low density lipoprotein/high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL/HDL-c and 89.1% on the basis of aspartate amino transferase (AST) and gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) were correctly classified into their respective groups.


CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrates the ability of TC, ApoB and LDL/HDL-c (among lipid measures) and AST and GGT (among liver measures) in discriminating alcohol dependents from non-dependent subjects.
Vaswani
M
M
National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, Department of Psychiatry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. meeravaswani@yahoo.com
Rao
Ravindra V
RV
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001055:Apolipoproteins B / Q000097:blood*; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase / Q000097:blood*
D001055:Apolipoproteins B; D015415:Biomarkers; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases