Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access published online on February 27, 2008
Alcohol and Alcoholism, doi:10.1093/alcalc/agn010
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Kinetics and Isoforms of Serum Glutamate Dehydrogenase in Alcoholics
i
2
1 Psychiatric Hospital Ormo
, Ormo, Slovenia
2 Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed at: Psychiatric Hospital Ormo, Ptujska cesta 33, SI-2270 ORMO
, Slovenia. Tel.: ++386 2 741 5100; E-mail: mk4{at}siol.net.
Received 1 August 2007; accepted 14 January 2008
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Abstract |
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Aims: The goal of this paper was to determine Glutamate dehydrogenase's (GLDH) increased activity and rapid decrease in alcoholics according to last consumption of alcohol as well as to confirm that quick normalisation cannot be a sign of hepatocyte necrosis and that GLDH from rough endoplasmic reticulum exists in the serum of alcoholics. Methods: GLDH activity was assed in 238 alcoholics admitted to hospital. A blood sample was taken from every subject three times: on admission to hospital, after 24 hours and after 7 days. We established our own reference activities for GLDH in serum, i.e., up to 124.0 nkat/l in males and 64.5 nkat/l in females. Results: Alcoholics were ascertained to have statistically significantly higher mean GLDH serum activities (men 351.53 nkat/L, women 296.08 nkat/L); the higher the level, the less elapsed time there was after the latest alcohol intake. There was an increased GLDH activity in 65.5% of alcoholics; furthermore, the percentage rose sharply to 72.2% with those who had last consumed alcohol within 48 hours. In the serum of alcoholics, it was found that, on average, it was 32.4% thermo-stable and 67.6% thermo-labile GLDH, which means that almost one third of GLDH serum originates from rough endoplasmic reticulum and rest from mitochondria. This is a completely new finding. Conclusions: A statistically significant fast decrease of GLDH serum activity after a break in alcohol consumption has been confirmed. It is estimated that increased GLDH activity in the sera of alcohol dependents and its fast decrease after total abstinence has been restored are specific for alcohol addiction.
Abbreviations: ADH, alcohol dehydrogenase • ALDH, aldehyde-dehydrogense • ALT, alanine-aminotransferase • AST, aspartate-aminotranferase • CDT, carbohydrate-deficient transferrin • DGKC, Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Klinische Chemie • DSM, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders • GGT, 
-glutamyltransferase • GLDH, glutamate dehydrogenase • ICD, International Statistical Classification of Diseases • IFCC, International Federation of Clinical Chemistry • MCV, erythrocyte mean cell volume • MEOS, microsomal ethanol oxidizing system.