Serum total
sialic acid (
TSA) concentration is a sensitive marker of excessive alcohol consumption and is the sum of
protein-bound
sialic acid,
lipid-bound
sialic acid (LSA), and free
sialic acid. The LSA is the fraction of SA attached to
gangliosides that are transported in the blood by the
lipoproteins. In this article, the effect of chronic alcohol consumption on the serum levels of LSA was evaluated. The objective of the study was to understand the mechanism of elevated serum
TSA concentration during
alcohol abuse. Additionally, the association of LSA with serum
lipid profile was tested. For this purpose, the levels of LSA,
TSA,
lipids,
lipoproteins, and
apolipoproteins (apos) in the sera of 106 alcoholics were measured. The serum level of LSA in alcohol abusers was significantly elevated. This increase was because of the elevated level of LSA in patients drinking alcohol up to 2 days before sampling. The elevated level of LSA positively correlated with
TSA, and also with biochemical indices of hepatocellular injury such as
aspartate aminotransferase and
gamma-glutamyltransferase, but did not correlate with any
lipids, apos, and
lipoproteins. The increase in LSA level is not related with the status of serum
lipid profile but is related to the liver status estimated by the
biochemical markers of liver cell damage. On the basis of our results, we conclude that the elevated level of LSA in alcohol abusers contributes to an increase in the serum concentration of
TSA, and contrary to
TSA, is affected by the status of liver cells.