Table 1.
Demographic and laboratory data for male and female alcohol-dependent patients and healthy control subjects.
| Parameter | Alcohol-Dependent Patients | Healthy Control Subjects | p Patients vs. Controls | p ♂ vs. ♀ | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ♂ | ♀ | ♂ | ♀ | ♂ | ♀ | Patients | Controls | |
| n | 113 | 87 | 133 | 107 | - | - | - | - |
| Age (years) | 48 (40–53) | 48 (42–55) | 48 (38–56) | 49 (39–55) | 0.794 | 0.772 | 0.308 | 0.762 |
| BMI (kg/m2) b | 24.9 (22.1–27.8) | 24.4 (22.1–29.3) | 27.7 (24.9–29.5) | 25.0 (21.7–28.6) | <0.001 | 0.961 | 0.963 | <0.001 |
| Active smokers (%) b | 77.9 | 76.9 | 21.8 | 18.7 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| Age at onset of alcohol dependence (years) c | 30 (24–39) | 35 (28–42) | - | - | - | - | 0.015 | - |
| Previous withdrawal treatments (n) c | 6 (2–12) | 5 (2–11) | - | - | - | - | 0.892 | - |
| Alcohol concentration at admission (‰) b | 1.7 (0.5–2.4) | 1.2 (0.1–1.8) | - | - | - | - | 0.020 | - |
| CIWA-Ar total score c | 18 (15–23) | 16 (14–21) | - | - | - | - | 0.163 | - |
| CAGE score | - | - | 0 (0–1) | 0 (0–0) | - | - | - | 0.024 |
| AUDIT score b | - | - | 4 (3–6) | 3 (2–4) | - | - | - | <0.001 |
| Days until first alcohol-related readmission | 285 (57–730) | 625 (90–730) | - | - | - | - | 0.047 | - |
| Number of alcohol-related readmissions | 2 (0–4) | 1 (0–3) | - | - | - | - | 0.021 | - |
| S-ASM activity during recruitment (fmol/h/µL serum) | 224 (168–318) | 202 (157–256) | 150 (112–194) | 134 (97–181) | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.049 | 0.100 |
| S-ASM activity during follow-up (fmol/h/µL serum) b | 214 (142–299) | 183 (159–251) | - | - | - | - | 0.175 | - |
| GGT (U/L) | 109 (50–275) | 57 (34–230) | 28 (21–41) | 17 (14–25) | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.022 | <0.001 |
| ALT (U/L) | 48 (28–84) | 28 (20–50) | 30 (23–39) | 18 (14–24) | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| AST (U/L) | 51 (36–91) | 37 (28–67) | 29 (25–34) | 23 (20–26) | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.002 | <0.001 |
| CDT (nephelometry, %) a | 2.8 (1.9–4.0) | 1.9 (1.6–2.5) | 1.5 (1.3–1.7) | 1.5 (1.3–1.6) | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.486 |
| MCV (fl) a | 93 (90–96) | 95 (91–97) | 88 (85–91) | 88 (85–91) | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.166 | 0.734 |
| Homocysteine (µmol) | 15 (12–23) | 15 (11–21) | 12 (10–14) | 10 (9–12) | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.161 | <0.001 |
| CK (U/L) | 132 (81–220) | 89 (72–141) | 151 (112–213) | 92 (75–110) | 0.058 | 0.422 | 0.006 | <0.001 |
| Leukocytes (per nL) a | 7.2 (5.5–8.4) | 6.9 (5.2–8.6) | 5.8 (5.0–7.2) | 5.8 (4.7–6.7) | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.341 | 0.173 |
| Thrombocytes (per nL) a | 198 (145–254) | 218 (181–266) | 230 (196–257) | 251 (214–287) | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.021 | <0.001 |
| Triglycerides (mg/dL) | 165 (96–236) | 135 (95–221) | 135 (98–192) | 117 (80–165) | 0.244 | 0.012 | 0.479 | 0.008 |
| Total cholesterol (mg/dL) | 214 (185–252) | 216 (180–255) | 210 (189–239) | 223 (191–252) | 0.833 | 0.530 | 0.926 | 0.106 |
| High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (mg/dL) | 61 (51–80) | 68 (54–85) | 48 (43–57) | 62 (51–74) | <0.001 | 0.015 | 0.123 | <0.001 |
| Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (mg/dL) a | 130 (96–160) | 122 (98–157) | 143 (125–171) | 146 (122–166) | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.750 | 0.676 |
The table shows medians with interquartile range or percentages, and p-values from Mann–Whitney U tests and χ2 tests comparing sex-specifically early-abstinent alcohol-dependent patients with healthy control subjects, and comparing group-specific male to female individuals. The subgroup at follow-up (94 male and 69 female patients willing and able to participate 5 days (3–6) after the initial recruitment) is representative for the total cohort of alcohol-dependent patients, since there are no significant differences in sociodemographic characteristics [32] or regarding S-ASM activity (all sex-specific p < 0.1). Data on alcohol-related readmissions were extracted from medical records for the 24-month period after study recruitment. For patients without readmission, this value was set to 730 days. Missing values: a ≤ 1%, b ≤ 10%, c ≤ 30%. p < 0.05 in bold. BMI: body mass index, CIWA-Ar score: German version of the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment for Alcohol revised, CAGE: acronym for 4-item questionnaire indicating potential problems with alcohol abuse, AUDIT: Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, S-ASM: secretory acid sphingomyelinase, GGT: gamma-glutamyl transferase, ALT: alanine aminotransferase (glutamic-pyruvic transaminase, GPT), AST: aspartate aminotransferase (glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase, GOT), CDT: carbohydrate-deficient transferrin, MCV: mean corpuscular volume, CK: creatine kinase.