Serum paraoxonase-1 in chronic alcoholics: Relationship with liver disease

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between serum paraoxonase-1 and liver damage in chronic alcoholic patients. To assess the diagnostic accuracy of paraoxonase-1 plus standard biochemical tests in the assessment of liver damage in alcoholics. Design and methods: We studied 328 chronic alcoholics and 368 healthy individuals. Results: Paraoxonase-1 activity was decreased and the concentration was increased in alcoholics (P < 0.001). The enzyme activity was correlated with albumin (r = 0.45; P < 0.001) and prothrombin time (r = 0.49; P < 0.001). Addition of paraoxonase-1 activity measurement to a battery of biochemical tests increased the sensitivity in differentiating between patients and controls up to 96.6% but did not improve the sensitivity in differentiating between subgroups of alcoholics. Conclusions: Paraoxonase-1 was related to the severity of alcoholic liver disease. Its measurement was useful in discriminating between patients and healthy subjects, but did not add any valuable information in