ISOFORMS OF TRANSFERRIN IN PSORIASIS PATIENTS ABUSING ALCOHOL

The different isoforms of transferrin have been quantified by isoelect ric focusing in the sera of psoriasis patients with and without a hist ory of abusing alcohol. In both male and female psoriasis subjects abu sing alcohol, there were significant increases in the 2-sialylated for ms by comparison to the control subjects. Psoriasis patients who had n o evidence of alcohol abuse had similar profile for the isoforms of tr ansferrin to that of the controls. Other groups of patients with alcoh ol-induced tissue damage, i.e. liver, brain or muscle, used as positiv e controls, similarly showed significant increases in the 2-sialylated forms, by comparison to controls. These results substantiate the curr ent use of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin as a sensitive marker of alcohol abuse, particularly in subjects not drinking in excess of 60 g of ethanol/day but showing alcohol-related psoriasis.