ABSTRACT
A comparative study of serum sialic acid concentration and traditional biochemical markers such as serum gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT), aspartate amino transferase (AST), alanine amino transferase (ALT), and AST/ALT ratio, as well as prognostic markers such as serum total protein and serum albumin in alcohol abuse was done. A total of 70 male subjects aged between 20 and 60 years, with 40 cases diagnosed as alcoholics, and 30 healthy controls were included in the study. Serum GGT, AST, ALT, total protein and serum albumin were estimated using auto analyzer Dade Behring clinical chemistry system. Serum sialic acid was estimated manually by modified Warren's colourimetric method. An increased concentration of serum sialic acid and other traditional biochemical markers GGT, AST, ALT was observed in cases compared to that of controls. Overall, GGT demonstrated good sensitivity and specificity. The other traditional markers used in alcohol abuse varied considerably in their specificities and sensitivities. The AST/ALT ratio was increased in cases compared to controls, but not high enough to confirm alcoholic liver disease. The albumin concentration in cases was decreased when compared to controls, while total protein concentration did not show any statistical significance in both the groups indicating that it has negligible effect. In this study, sialic acid proved to be a reliable test with sensitivity of 70% and specificity of 90%, with a diagnostic accuracy of 80%, showing that it can be used as a biochemical marker in alcohol abuse, where secondary effects of liver disease hamper the use of traditional markers.
ABSTRACT
Cheiloscopy, the study of lip prints is an upcoming tool for the identification of persons. The lip print of every person is unique and can be used to fix personal identity. Previous work done on the subject also reveals that lip prints show differences according to the race and the ethnic origins of a person. This study was taken up to determine the predominant lip print type in Kerala population. 50 male and 50 female subjects of Kerala origin were included in the study and the middle 1 cm of the lower lip was taken as the study area. The lip prints were recorded by applying lipstick on the lips, then cellophane tape was applied on the lips and the prints were taken. These prints were studied and classified according to Tsuchihashi’s classification of Type I (complete vertical grooves), Type I‟ (incomplete vertical grooves), Type II (forking grooves), Type III (intersect-ing grooves), Type IV (reticular grooves) and Type V (undetermined grooves). The predominant type in each qua-drant was noted and the percentage was calculated. It was found that Type IV (reticular grooves) was the predomi-nant pattern.