[Effect of body iron stores in the indicators of alcohol abuse and alcoholic liver injury].
Chronic alcohol abuse disrupts iron homeostasis in the body leading to its deposition in the liver. Accumulation of iron in the liver can lead to organ damage and the development of alcoholic liver disease.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the impact of body iron stores, as defined by ferritin and transferrin saturation in alcoholics on the value of the indicators of alcohol abuse (carbohydrate-deficient transferrin and the mean corpuscular volume of red blood cells) and the indices of alcoholic liver damage (gamma-glutamyltransferase, aspartate and alanine aminotransferase).


METHODS
The study group consisted of 148 alcohol-dependent men who were divided into five groups according to the body iron stores (criterion ferritin) and the depletion of these stores (criterion transferrin saturation). Indices of body iron stores (hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume, serum iron level, concentration and transferrin saturation, serum soluble transferrin receptor, ferritin) and indicators of alcohol abuse (GGT, AST, ALT and CDT) were determined.


RESULTS
Only the indices of alcoholic liver damage (GGT, AST and ALT) were different between the alcoholics with a positive and compensated iron balance evaluated by serum ferritin level. Indicators of alcohol abuse--CDT and MCV--were not sensitive to the iron balance in the body. Taking into account the depletion of body iron stores evaluated by the transferrin saturation, only the value of MCV and GGT may be partially useful. Indices of alcoholic liver damage (GGT, AST and ALT) positively correlated with ferritin--indicator of iron balance in the body.


CONCLUSIONS
From these studies suggest that the body iron stores in alcoholics affect the indices of liver damage by alcohol (GGT AST and ALT) and the alcohol abuse markers (CDT and MCV) affect only a small extent.
Cylwik
Bogdan
B
Uniwersytet Medyczny w Białymstoku, Zakład Diagnostyki Biochemicznej. cylwikb@umwb.edu.pl
Daniluk
Marta
M
Chrostek
Lech
L
Szmitkowski
Maciej
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000097:blood*; D005293:Ferritins / Q000097:blood*; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000097:blood; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D008108:Liver Diseases, Alcoholic / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D005293:Ferritins; D007501:Iron