Blood Biomarkers of Alcohol Use: A Scoping Review

AbstractPurpose of ReviewUnderstanding whether a person has consumed alcohol or not, as well as quantitative assessment of alcohol use, are often based on self-reported measures, which may be subject to recall bias, among other challenges. Although not without limitations, blood biomarkers may complement self-reported assessments to provide a more accurate determination of the presence and quantity of alcohol use. The aim of this review is to provide a critical overview of the current knowledge and research on biomarkers of alcohol use, with a particular focus on blood tests.Recent FindingsThis scoping review summarizes the published work on blood tests currently used in clinical practice, including phosphatidyl ethanol (PEth), fatty acid ethyl ester (FAEE), carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT), total serum sialic acid (TSA), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), and cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP). Emerging blood biomarkers with a potential use to assess alcohol drinking are also briefly reviewed, including  N-Acetyl-β-Hexosaminidase (Beta-Hex), macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), andd-dopachrome tautomerase (DDT). We discuss the aforementioned biomarkers in the context of their clinical implications, characteristics, strengths, and limitations.SummaryThe available blood biomarkers considerably vary in the time period in which they detect alcohol use and ...
Source: Current Addiction Reports - Category: Addiction Source Type: research