Excess alcohol consumption is common in patients with cytopenia: studies in blood and bone marrow cells.

Background: Although alcohol abuse is known to create a variety of adverse effects on hematopoiesis, the associations between ethanol consumption and hematological abnormalities have not been fully established.

Methods: We studied 144 consecutive adult patients who underwent clinical and bone marrow examinations due to abnormal findings in peripheral blood cell counts or red blood cell indices without previously established diagnoses of specific hematological diseases, malignancies, or infections. Assessment included the amount of alcohol consumption, complete blood cell counts, morphological review of peripheral blood and bone marrow, markers of liver status, and erythrocyte folate and serum vitamin B12 levels.

Distribution of ethanol-induced protein adducts in vivo: relationship to tissue injury.

Generation of oxygen free radicals and reactive aldehydes as a result of excessive ethanol consumption has been well established. Recent studies in human alcoholics and in experimental animal models have indicated that acetaldehyde, the first metabolite of ethanol, and the aldehydic products of lipid peroxidation can bind to proteins in tissues forming stable adducts. The demonstration of such adducts in zone 3 hepatocytes in alcoholics with an early phase of histological liver damage indicates that adduct formation may have an important role in the sequence of events leading to alcoholic liver disease.

Acetaldehyde adducts in blood and bone marrow of patients with ethanol-induced erythrocyte abnormalities.

Background: Although alcohol abuse is known to cause a wide array of adverse effects on blood cell formation, the molecular mechanisms by which alcohol exerts its toxic actions remain poorly defined. We examine here the formation of acetaldehyde-derived protein modifications in erythrocytes and in their bone marrow precursors using antibodies specifically recognizing acetaldehyde-modified epitopes in proteins independently of the nature of the carrier protein.

Materials And Methods: We studied 138 consecutive adult patients undergoing bone marrow aspiration due to macrocytosis (MCV values above 99 fL).

Autoimmune responses against oxidant stress and acetaldehyde-derived epitopes in human alcohol consumers.

Background: Studies in experimental animals have indicated that chronic ethanol ingestion triggers the formation of antibodies directed against proteins modified with reactive metabolites of ethanol and products of lipid peroxidation. However, the nature and prevalence of such antibodies have not been compared previously in alcoholic patients.

Methods: Autoantibodies against adducts with acetaldehyde- (AA), malondialdehyde- (MDA), and oxidized epitopes (Ox) were examined from sera of 54 alcohol consumers with (n = 28) or without (n = 26) liver disease, and from 20 nondrinking controls.

Aldehyde-protein adducts in the liver as a result of ethanol-induced oxidative stress.

A number of systems that generate oxygen free radicals and reactive aldehydic species are activated by excessive ethanol consumption. Recent studies from human alcoholics and from experimental animals have indicated that acetaldehyde and aldehydic products of lipid peroxidation, which are generated in such processes, can bind to proteins forming stable adducts. Adduct formation may lead to several adverse consequences, such as interference with protein function, stimulation of fibrogenesis, and induction of immune responses.

Comparison of the Axis %CDT TIA and the CDTect method as laboratory tests of alcohol abuse.

Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) has been suggested as a specific marker of alcohol abuse. We designed this study to compare the conventional CDTect method (Pharmacia & Upjohn) and the new semiautomated Axis %CDT turbidimetric immunoassay (%CDT TIA) for their diagnostic performance to identify problem drinking. The sensitivities of the %CDT TIA and CDTect for correctly classifying heavy drinkers (n = 90) were 29% and 59% with the thresholds currently recommended by the manufacturers, respectively.

Serum IgA, IgG, and IgM antibodies directed against acetaldehyde-derived epitopes: relationship to liver disease severity and alcohol consumption.

Chronic ethanol ingestion has been suggested to trigger the formation of antibodies that recognize acetaldehyde-protein condensates. In this study, assays for immunoglobulin (Ig) A, IgG, and IgM antibodies to acetaldehyde-derived adducts were performed on sera of 140 alcohol consumers, 19 patients with nonalcoholic liver disease (NALD), 35 healthy nondrinking controls, and 10 nondrinking patients with IgA or IgG myeloma. Anti-acetaldehyde (Ach)-adduct antibodies of each Ig isotype were found from the alcohol abusers.

Sensitivity and specificity of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin as a marker of alcohol abuse are significantly influenced by alterations in serum transferrin: comparison of two methods.

Despite a number of investigations suggesting the value of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) as a marker of alcohol abuse, a variety of issues on the applicability of CDT measurements in clinical settings have remained unexplored. Earlier studies in this field have focused on the relationship of CDT and the amount of alcohol consumption or presence of liver disease, whereas the influence of alterations in serum transferrin concentrations on CDT has received less attention. In this study, we compared two different methods for measuring CDT (CDTect and %CDT) and total transferrin concentrations in a sample of 83 alcohol abusers (20 patients with alcoholic liver disease and 63 heavy drinkers who were devoid of liver disease, despite excessive alcohol consumption) and 89 controls, who were social drinkers or abstainers.

Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin as a marker of alcohol abuse: relationship to alcohol consumption, severity of liver disease, and fibrogenesis.

Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) measurements have been widely examined as a marker of excessive alcohol consumption, yet the information on the sensitivity of this method has remained controversial. In addition, little is known of the relationship of this marker and the severity of alcoholic liver disease (ALD). To clarify these issues, we analyzed serum samples from 373 alcohol abusers, including 200 problem drinkers with no apparent liver pathology, 173 patients with clinical or morphological evidence of ALD, and 42 healthy controls.

Collagen breakdown products as markers of fibrosis and cirrhosis.

Collagens are extracellular matrix proteins that maintain the structural integrity of various tissues. Because normal collagen contained in connective tissues and bone is known to undergo metabolic alterations in a wide variety of diseases, there has been a great deal of interest in how measurements of protein fragments derived from collagen biosynthesis and breakdown could be used as markers of pathological collagen turnover. Immunological assays are now available for several proteins representing genetically distinct collagen types.