[Alcohol induced changes in hemopoiesis (author's transl)]

In a prospective trial with 120 chronic alcoholics (July, 1978 to January, 1980) on admission the following haematological values significantly different from those of the normal population were found: elevated erythrocyte mean corpuscular volume (64%), increased mean corpuscular hemoglobin (32%), thrombocytopenia (48%), increased percentage of bone marrow sideroblasts (35%), decreased percentage of sideroblasts (37%), megaloblastic bone marrow changes (55%) including nuclear abnormalities (32%), and vacuolization in red cell (20%) and white cell (16%) precursors. These changes were independent of liver cirrhosis with hypersplenism (increased mean corpuscular volume in 52% of the patients who did not have liver cirrhosis, increased mean corpuscular volume in 76% of the patients who were cirrhotic but not suffering from major bleeding). Platelets returned to normal values within 6 days of discontinuation of alcohol ingestion. In respect to iron metabolism we found the following changes: decreased serum iron concentration (32%), increased iron concentration (42%), increased total iron binding capacity (54%), increased ferritin (41%), decreased transferrin (20%). In contrast to data from the Anglo-American literature, serum folate concentrations were mostly normal in our patients (87%). This may be due to different eating and drinking habits. The percentage of bone marrow sideroblasts was also lower in our patients than those described in the literature mentioned above. The changes in maturation are likely to be caused partially by a toxic effect of alcohol on nuclear metabolism of bone marrow cells.