FAMILY HISTORY OF ALCOHOLISM AND THE MEDIATION OF ALCOHOL INTAKE BY CATALASE - FURTHER EVIDENCE FOR CATALASE AS A MARKER OF THE PROPENSITY TO INGEST ALCOHOL

Earlier studies have suggested that catalase activity (CA) may represe nt a biological marker of alcohol intake in animals and in humans. An initial study was designed to rule out the possibility that CA is indu ced as a function of acute alcohol intake. Subjects (n = 80) were pres ented with either an alcohol (0.5 g/kg of body weight) or control solu tion, and asked to provide four 100-mu l blood samples at 0.0, 0.5, 2. 0, and 24.0 hr. Results showed no differences in CA between individual s who had received alcohol, and controls, even when the effects of pre vious drinking history were covaried out. This lack of effect of acute alcohol intake on the possible induction of CA further supported the notion that CA may be a viable marker of alcohol intake, rather than t he converse. In the second study, the relation between CA and alcohol intake was investigated in individuals with a family history (FH) of a lcoholism (FH+), and in those without a family history of alcoholism ( FH-). Subjects (n = 607) completed the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Q uestionnaire, the MacAndrew Scale, and the Concordia University Alcoho l Screening Questionnaire; answered questions concerning their FH for alcoholism; and provided a 100-mu l blood sample. Results showed that FH+ individuals had higher mean CA compared with FH- individuals. When individuals with FH+ were compared with those with FH-, differences i n the pattern of relation between CA and alcohol intake were observed. Although a significant relation between CA and alcohol intake was obt ained for both FH- and FH+ individuals, this relation was significantl y higher (p < 0.001) for individuals with FH+. Results from a multiple regression analyses suggested that CA in FH+ individuals made the hig hest single contribution to the variance, even after accounting for se veral additional variables. These results support the contention that CA may be a biological marker of the propensity of FH+ individuals to consume alcohol.