Urinary enzyme output during detoxification of chronic alcoholic patients

The urinary excretion of N-acetylglucosaminidase, gamma-glutamyl transferase and lactate dehydrogenase was elevated by two to three fold in chronic alcoholic patients when compared to normal controls. After 4 weeks of alcohol abstention, the urinary excretion of these enzymes returned to control values. Increased urinary enzyme excretion was not related to malnutrition or pathological glomerular filtration and is due most probably to a direct effect of alcohol on the renal proximal tubule.