Erythrocyte aldehyde dehydrogenase activity in alcoholism

Erythrocyte aldehyde dehydrogenase activity was determined in 44 chronic alcoholic patients within 18-36 hr after discontinuation of chronic alcohol intake and in 20 nonalcoholic controls. The enzyme activity was decreased to 4.98 +/- 0.52 mlU/mg of protein in the alcoholics as compared with a value of 8.25 +/- 1.29 mlU/mg of protein in the controls (p less than 0.05). The level of the enzyme activity did not correlate significantly with the daily quantity of alcohol consumption or the degree of liver injury reflected in elevations of serum aspartate aminotransferase. Repeat determination in 23 of the alcoholics after 2 weeks of supervised abstinence in an inpatient unit resulted in an increase in the enzyme activity to control levels. These findings show that the decreased activity of erythrocyte aldehyde dehydrogenase which occurs in association with alcohol ingestion is not an inherent characteristic of alcoholism.