Chronic alcohol abuse and high density lipoprotein cholesterol

The possible use of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) as a marker of alcohol abuse was studied in 92 alcoholic patients entering an inpatient treatment program. The average HDLC levels of 68 male patients (66 +/- 23 mg/dl) and 24 female patients (83 +/- 18 mg/dl) were significantly higher than the values for the corresponding control groups of similar ages. Approximately 20% of the male patients had HDLC levels over the mean +/- 2 SD over the control groups. Following 2 wk of alcohol abstinence, the HDLC levels decreased to the control range. HDLC, as a measure of alcohol abuse, may be especially useful in combination with determination of gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), since these two tests singly or in combination were elevated in 65% of the male and 85% of the female patients.