1. State Markers of Alcohol Use and Their Application
- Author
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Mueller, Sebastian, Heilig, Markus, Mueller, S ( Sebastian ), Heilig, M ( Markus ), Wurst, Friedrich Martin, Luginbühl, Marc, Barrio, Pablo, Gual, Antoni; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7130-981X, Thon, Natasha, Weinmann, Wolfgang; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8659-1304, Stöth, Frederike, Yegles, Michel, Wong, Jessica, Preuss, Ulrich W, Mueller, Sebastian, Heilig, Markus, Mueller, S ( Sebastian ), Heilig, M ( Markus ), Wurst, Friedrich Martin, Luginbühl, Marc, Barrio, Pablo, Gual, Antoni; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7130-981X, Thon, Natasha, Weinmann, Wolfgang; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8659-1304, Stöth, Frederike, Yegles, Michel, Wong, Jessica, and Preuss, Ulrich W
- Abstract
Alcohol-related disorders are widespread and often underdiagnosed. They are associated with substantial costs, not only for the individual drinking alcohol but to the society as a whole. Questionnaires and biomarkers are useful to facilitate screening, diagnosis, and treatment of alcohol-related disorders and thus prevent later complications. The analytical spectrum offers a wide portfolio of direct and indirect alcohol markers which can be investigated. Indirect state markers such as gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), carbohydrate deficiency transferrin (CDT), and the mean corpuscular volume (MCV) are influenced by age and sex, various substances, and non-alcohol-related diseases. Furthermore, they do not cover the entire timeline for alcohol consumption. Direct state markers such as ethyl glucuronide (EtG), phosphatidylethanol (PEth), and fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE) have gained enormous interest in the last decades as they embed the consumed ethanol within their chemical structure. As biomarkers with high sensitivity and specificity covering different windows of detection, they are recommended in guidelines, should be routinely applied, and contribute to new perspectives in the prevention, interdisciplinary cooperation, diagnosis, and treatment of alcohol-related disorders.
- Published
- 2023