BIOLOGICAL MARKERS OF ALCOHOL-CONSUMPTION AND EFFECT OF CALCITONIN INNONALCOHOLIC MEN - A PROSPECTIVE, DOUBLE-BLIND-STUDY

The objective of this study was to study the ability of biological mar kers of alcohol consumption in differentiating subjects below weekly c onsumption of 400 or 600 g of absolute ethanol from those above, and t o study the effect of intranasal calcitonin on alcohol drinking. A pro spective 12-week double-blind study that used anonymous data collectio n with drinking diaries was done. The drug that was studied (calcitoni n or placebo) was used during study weeks 5-8. This study was performe d at the research unit of a university hospital. The subjects consiste d of 59-nine men aged 26 to 57 years who considered themselves as regu lar but modest drinkers and were recruited by advertisements. The meas urements were obtained from monthly questionnaires and daily anonymous diaries for alcohol drinking data, and biological markers of alcohol consumption (aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, gam ma-glutamyl transpeptidase, beta hexosaminidase, and carbohydrate defi cient transferrin). The results indicated intranasal calcitonin with a dose of 200 IU three times a week had no effect on alcohol use. All b iological markers studied had only a modest ability to differentiate t hose with weekly alcohol consumption of 400 or 600 g or over from thos e below these limits. The areas under receiver operating characteristi c (ROC) curve with the limit 400 g/week were 0.71 for aspartate aminot ransferase, 0.61 for alanine aminotransferase, 0.74 for gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, 0.68 for beta-hexosaminidase, and 0.78 for carbohydra te deficient transferrin. Respective numbers for the 600-g limit were more uniform. As evaluated by ROC analysis, carbohydrate deficient tra nsferrin was the best biological marker to find men with weekly alcoho l consumption over 400 g. Intranasal salmon calcitonin had no affect o n alcohol drinking.