The goals of this study were to describe demographic variables, drinking history, and the 6-month prevalence of Axis I comorbidity among alcohol-dependent subjects in GERMANY: The variables: amount of alcohol consumption, age at onset of the first alcohol consumed, age at onset of daily alcohol consumption, age at onset of withdrawal symptoms and number of detoxifications were related to the different comorbid disorders and gender. In this study, 556 patients from 25 alcohol treatment centres were enrolled between 1 January 1999 and 30 April 1999. After a minimum of 10 days of sobriety patients who fulfilled ICD-10 and DSM-IV criteria of alcohol dependence were interviewed for data collection using the Mini-DIPS (German version of the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule) and a standardized psychosocial interview. The 6-month prevalence of comorbid Axis I disorders was 53.1%. Among the patients with comorbidity, affective and anxiety disorders were most frequent. Comorbid stress disorder was associated with an early start of drinking, an early beginning of withdrawal symptoms, highest number of detoxifications, and the highest amount of alcohol consumed. Female patients with anxiety disorder consumed more alcohol and started earlier than females without this comorbid disorder. The data do not answer the question of the pathogenesis of comorbid disorders and alcoholism, but indicate that stress disorders in alcoholic patients and anxiety disorders in female alcoholics influence the course and severity of alcoholism.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Macroprolactin detection: a new approach].

Macroprolactin is a complex of prolactin with immunoglobulins (IgG) that has limited or no biological activity in vivo. Immunoassays for prolactin have variable reactivity with macroprolactin. Therefore the presence of macroprolactin should be considered in the differential diagnosis of hyperprolactinemia. We compared a valid screening test for macroprolactin, polyethyleneglycol (PEG) precipitation, with the determination of the ratio of the results of two prolactin assays: Elecsys with high cross-reactivity with macroprolactin and Centaur with low cross-reactivity. In 59 negative samples subjected to the PEG test (precipitation < 50%), the Elecsys/Centaur ratio ranged between 1.11 and 1.45. Among 35 positive samples (precipitation > 60%), 33 had, as expected, an increased ratio (over 1.45), 1 a normal ratio and 1 a decreased ratio (1.07). This decreased ratio could be due to a particular form of macroprolactin poorly recognised by the Elecsys assay. Among 5 samples in the grey zone (precipitation between 50 and 60%), the ratio was increased in 2, normal in 1 and decreased in 2. Apart from one false negative case (normal ratio with positive PEG test), the results of the Elecsys/Centaur ratio method were in good agreement with those of the PEG test. The ratio method could be helpful for samples with PEG test results in the grey zone, before undertaking a complete analysis of circulating molecular forms by gel filtration chromatography. Out of the 5 five samples in the grey zone, the ratio was 4 times out of the reference range: 2 increased, 2 decreased. Our results also underline the necessity of reevaluating the Centaur prolactin reference range from samples without macroprolactin.

Adolescent↗