Folate deficiency in the alcoholic--its relationship to clinical and haematological abnormalities, liver disease and folate stores

Clinical and laboratory observations were made on 84 patients regularly taking more than 80 g of alcohol daily. Macrocytosis was present in 84.5%, but only 13% were anaemic. Twenty-seven of the 57 bone marrows sampled were abnormal, 20 showing megaloblastic changes, mostly mild in degree. Serum, red cell, and liver folate levels were reduced in 28%, 35% and 31% of patients respectively. Liver folate concentration showed good correlation with serum and red cell folates. The folate deficiency was more severe in those patients, more often female, who had inadequate diets or drank wine and spirits rather than beer. The amount of alcohol consumption and extent of liver damage did not affect folate status. The findings suggest that folate deficiency is common among alcoholics in this country. More frequently, however, patients had macrocytosis, sometimes with megaloblastosis, in the absence of folate deficiency emphasizing the direct toxic effect of alcohol on the developing erythroblast.

Rapid analysis of the central nervous system stimulants, amphetamines, via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry: rapid acylation in the presence of a mercury catalyst

A simple, direct, instantaneous, and quantitative acetylating procedure for amphetamines has been developed. The method uses trifluoroacetic anhydride in the presence of mercuric trifluoroacetate as a catalyst. The product was characterized by a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry system. The salient features of this technique are: (a) rapidity of analysis; (b) no previous cleanup to remove adulterants; and (c) detection of amphetamines at the picomole level. We have routinely applied this technique for court samples and law enforcement authorities. The method could prove to be applicable, with minimum amounts of involvement in sample preparation, to the analysis of a variety of compounds containing an acyl displaceable hydrogen.

Reduced serum somatomedin activity in patients with chronic liver disease

1. Somatomedin (SM; sulphation factor) activity was estimated by a chick-cartilage assay in fasting sera from twenty-one patients with chronic liver disease.

2. Low SM values were found in nine out of the ten patients with cirrhosis and in two other patients, one with hepatofibrosis and one with hepatoma.

3. In general, the lowest serum SM activities were found in those patients with the most severe disease and significant correlations were found between serum SM and serum albumin, alkaline phosphatase and bilirubin.

4. Growth hormone was also measured in the samples and concentrations above 10 units/ml were found in seven patients, all of whom had reduced serum SM activities.

5. These findings indicate that low serum SM activity in liver disease is not related to growth hormone deficiency and suggest that the liver may be an important site for SM synthesis in man.