Is serum sialic acid a marker of alcohol abuse.

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.