[Asialotransferrin discriminating excessive, subacute and chronic active alcohol consumption. Clinical usefulness in hepatic disease]. / Asialotransferrina discriminante do consumo excessivo activo de álcool, sub-agudo e crónico. Utilidade clínica na doença hepática.

The determination of serum levels of carbohydrate deficient transferrin (CDT) and transferrin ratio in the persistent abusive alcohol consumer arises with promising utility in the study of alcohol related disorders. This series shows the excellent specificity (97%), though poor sensitivity (52%), for CDT. However the CDT/Tft ratio affords a higher sensitivity, reaching 74%, maintaining the high specificity. In persistent abusive consumers (> 70 g/day) this index, which is positively correlated with serum transferrin, is capable of defining these amounts of alcohol per capita with a high frequency and provides independent information since it is not significantly correlated with the levels of traditional biological markers (AST, ALT, GGT, AGV). Although with defined methodological limitations, these indexes denote, with the improvement of technical accessibility, a practical applicability in the screening of chronic abusive consumers. In the field of hepatology the behaviour of CDT and the transferrin ratio is capable of showing the involvement of ethanol in the study of the nature of a chronic hepatic disease with a high frequency. However, the degree of liver lesion show by the PGA hepatic index, has no significant influence on the serum levels of CDT and the transferrin ratio. In this series, the circumstances and conditions of alcohol consumption seem to be the independent determinant of the informative character which these indexes reveal.

[The effect of combined toxicity on the development of alcoholic pancreatic lesions. A long-term experimental trial]. / Influência da toxicidade combinada no desenvolvimento da lesão pancreática alcoólica. Ensaio experimental prolongado.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the adverse effects on the exocrine pancreas of ethanol and ethanol with congeners which coexist in alcoholic beverages most commonly consumed by the Portuguese population. Eighteen male Wistar rats were divided into three groups and submitted to a daily intraperitoneal injection of a hydroalcoholic solution of ethanol (SHAE) and a hydroalcoholic solution of ethanol, acetaldehyde, methanol and higher alcohols (SHAF); the third group served as a control and received an equivalent volume of an isocaloric solution of dextrose. All the animals were sacrificed at the end of the 9th week of the experiment. The following histological lesions were considered: acinar cell necrosis and steatosis, ductal dilatation, intraluminal plugs, parenchymal inflammation, fibrosis, peripancreatic fat necrosis and inflammation. Their severity was graded by means of a scoring system. The histopathologic changes which characterize pancreatitis (acinar cell necrosis, parenchymal inflammation, fibrosis and peripancreatic fat necrosis and inflammation) were found in the majority of animals of both study groups, but in none of the control group. The lesions tend to be more frequent and severe in the group treated with ethanol and its congeners (SHAF) than in the SHAE group; these differences are statistically significant when necrosis, ductal dilatation and overall severity of lesions are considered. The results of this study suggest that in the pancreas the toxicity of ethanol is enhanced by interaction with other components of alcoholic beverages.

Interaction of the constituents of alcoholic beverages in the promotion of liver damage.

Little has been studied of the adverse effects of the exposure of the liver to the interaction of ethanol with its congeners and acetaldehyde, coexisting in the contents of alcoholic beverages. Twenty four male Wistar rats were divided into four groups. Two groups (SH/DA; SH/FA) were submitted to daily treatment with synthetic hydroalcoholic solutions containing ethanol, methanol, higher alcohols and acetaldehyde in the same proportions as those found in most common distilled and fermented alcoholic beverages; the third group (SH/EA) was treated with a hydroalcoholic solution of ethanol; the fourth group served as control and received an equivalent volume of an isocaloric solution of dextrose. All the animals were killed at the end of the 9th week of the experiment. The ratio between the liver weight and body weight was found to be lower in the treated animals than in the control group. The histology of the liver was altered in the three groups which were submitted to treatment with the hydroalcoholic solutions, with quantitative and qualitative differences between the groups. These results suggest that the hepatoxicity of ethanol in alcoholic beverages is enhanced by interaction with its congeners and acetaldehyde; they also suggest that alcoholic beverages are not equivalent in their potential to cause liver damage.

[Interaction of the contents of alcoholic beverages in the promotion of liver damage]. / Interacção de constituintes das bebidas alcoólicas na promoção da lesão hepática.

The adverse effects of the exposure of the liver to the interaction of ethanol with its congeners and acetaldehyde, coexisting in the contents of alcoholic beverages, have been little studied. Twenty four male Wistar rats were divided into four groups. Two groups (SH/DA; SH/FA) were submitted to daily treatment with synthetic hydroalcoholic solutions containing ethanol, methanol, higher alcohols and acetaldehyde in the same proportions as those found in most common distilled and fermented alcoholic beverages; the third group (SH/EA) was treated with a hydroalcoholic solution of ethanol; the fourth group served as control and received an equivalent volume of an isocaloric solution of dextrose. All the animals were killed at the end of the 9th week of the experiment. The ratio between the liver weight and body weight was found to be lower in the treated animals than in the control group. The histology of the liver was altered in the three groups which were submitted to treatment with the hydroalcoholic solutions, with quantitative and qualitative differences between the groups. These results suggest that the hepatoxicity of ethanol in alcoholic beverages is enhanced by interaction with its congeners and acetaldehyde; they also suggest that alcoholic beverages are not equivalent in their potential to cause liver damage.