ATYPICAL LIVER ALCOHOL-DEHYDROGENASE IN THE SPANISH POPULATION - ITS RELATION WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF ALCOHOLIC LIVER-DISEASE

The presence of atypical liver alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) was determi ned in samples of liver tissue from 222 alcoholic and nonalcoholic sub jects to determine its prevalence in the Spanish population, and to ev aluate the possible relationship between the presence of this isoenzym e and the development of alcoholism and alcoholic liver disease. Alcoh olic patients were classified into the following groups: control subje cts, with normal liver pathology (group 1), patients with noncirrhotic liver disease (group 2), and patients with cirrhosis of the liver (gr oup 3). Nonalcoholic subjects were also divided, following the same cr iteria, into groups 4, 5, and 6, respectively. The prevalence of atypi cal ADH in the population analyzed was 16.2%. Atypical ADH was present in 14.9% of alcoholics and in 17.4% of nonalcoholics (p = NS). There were no significant differences when the prevalence of atypical ADH of alcoholic and nonalcoholic patients with similar degrees of liver pat hology was compared (group 1 vs. 4, group 2 vs. 5, and group 3 vs. 6). The prevalence of atypical ADH was also similar in cirrhotic patients with respect to those of noncirrhotic liver disease and control patie nts, either in alcoholic or nonalcoholic groups. Our findings indicate that the prevalence of atypical ADH in the Spanish population is simi lar to that reported for other Caucasian groups. Moreover, the presenc e of atypical ADH does not play a role in the development of alcoholis m nor in the development of alcoholic liver disease in the population analyzed.