Serum nitrate levels in alcoholic patients: a study in an urban government hospital and de-addiction centre.

ABSTRACT

This study was designed to determine the nitric oxide metabolism measured as circulating nitrate levels in the serum of alcoholic patients. Nitric oxide (NO) plays a significant role in the inflammatory process and has been implicated in several autoimmune disorders. This study was carried out prospectively to estimate the levels of nitrate in the serum, as a surrogate marker of NO production, among alcohol-dependent patients. Serum nitrate concentrations as an index of plasma NO levels were assessed in alcohol-dependent patients attending the deaddiction centre of a major hospital. Total sample size comprised 450 males. Age- and sex-matched non-alcoholic control population (n=90) was compared with alcoholics (n=360) of similar socioeconomic status. Serum nitrate concentration was assayed spectrophotometrically. Stable metabolites of nitrates were significantly higher in alcoholics compared with their nonalcoholic controls (p<0.05). The results may support the involvement of oxidative damage due to high NO concentration, and may be linked to its excitotoxicity and cytotoxicity in neurons, glia, and myelin. Generation of NO has been linked to an increased tendency towards tolerance to alcohol.