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Serum sialic acid levels are increased during relapse to alcohol drinking: a pilot study
Maritta Pönniö1, Pekka Sillanaukee And, Johan Franck
1Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. maritta.ponnio@cns.ki.se
Background:
Sialic acid has been suggested to be a potential marker for alcohol abuse. A previous study showed that sialic acid levels were significantly higher in serum among alcoholics as compared with social drinkers. In addition, serum sialic acid concentrations decreased after a treatment program aiming at abstinence. In this study, sialic acid was investigated as a possible marker for relapse to alcohol drinking.
Methods:
Serum from alcohol-dependent patients in outpatient treatment ( n = 8) was analyzed for sialic acid by a colorimetric assay. A baseline sample was taken when the subject had been abstinent for longer than 4 weeks. A second sample was taken after relapse within 3 days after cessation of drinking. A relapse was defined as two or more days with daily drinking of more than 60 g of pure alcohol.
Results:
The sialic acid levels were significantly increased by 21% (median; range, 6-33%; < 0.01; n = 8) after a relapse as compared with the level after 4 weeks or longer of abstinence.
Conclusions:
This study suggests that serum sialic acid levels are significantly increased even after a short period of heavy drinking and may be a potential marker for relapse.