Arylsulfatase A levels in patients with chronic alcoholism

Background. The goal of this study was to find the association between low arylsulfatase A (ASA) activity and psychiatric disorders in chronic alcohol ic patients. Methods. The study was carried out in 30 chronic alcoholic patients (27 mal e, 3 female); age range was 25-65 years. There were 20 normal controls (18 males, 2 females), and age range was 24-67 years. ASA and routine aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT activity laborato ry tests were measured in blood serum from all patients and control subject s. Results. Alcoholic patients with psychiatric disorders have ASA average val ues of 68.25 nmol/mL/4 h. This is less than averages found in the alcoholic s without psychiatric disorders group (82.48 nmol/mL/4 h) and the control g roup (90.8 nmol/mL/4 h). There were no statistically significant difference s among the three groups studied. Alcoholic subjects with elevated activity of AST and ALT (n = 10) have ASA activity average values of 134.82 nmol/ml /4 h), which is 48.8% higher than the control group (90.6 nmol/ml/L4 h). Th ese means show statistically significant differences (p < 0.05). Conclusions. Results indicate an association between low serum ASA activity and alcoholism. The appearance of psychiatric manifestations could be rela ted to the low activity of this enzyme in chronic alcoholic patients. Alcoh olic patients with elevated enzyme activity of AST and ALT in sera also hav e elevated sera arylsulfatase A (ASA) activity. We consider that these find ings may be useful for evaluating the psychiatric state as a prognosis in c hronic alcoholic patients, and should be a routine laboratory test in alcoh olic patients. (C) 2001 IMSS. Published by Elsevier Science Inc.