Association of Lipid biomarkers with drinking patterns and severity in alcoholic liver disease - A hospital- based cross- sectional study

Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is one of the leading causes of death due to cirrhosis. Dyslipidemia is a common finding in ALD and lipid parameters are shown to be associated with disease severity. However the effect of alcohol drinking pattern on lipid abnormalities is still unclear. Hence this cross sectional study was planned to estimate the serum lipid profile in ALD patients and to determine the association of lipid parameters with alcohol drinking pattern and the severity of liver disease.50 male patients with ALD and 50 age matched controls were enrolled. AUDIT score was used to assess their drinking pattern. Serum lipid profile and liver parameters were estimated and compared between the cases and controls. The patients were grouped based on severity into Child Pugh's group A, B and C and the study parameters were compared between the groups. All statistical analyses were done using SPSS v20.0. The mean total cholesterol level (126.98±45.06 vs 163.2±24.38 mg/dL), LDL and HDL cholesterol was significantly less in ALD compared to controls. Total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels were low in Child Pugh's Score C group. Mean AUDIT score was18 ± 4. Low Total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels correlate with disease severity and are markers of poor prognosis. Lipid parameters do not correlate with alcohol drinking patterns in ALD

Evaluating Interference of Lipemia on Routine Clinical Biochemical Tests

Objective Lipemia is an important cause of preanalytical errors in laboratory results. They affect the specimen integrity and trustworthiness of laboratory results. The present study was to assess the impact of lipemia on routine clinical chemistry analytes. Methods Anonymous leftover serum samples with normal levels of routine biochemical parameters were pooled. Twenty such pooled serum samples were used for the study. The samples were spiked with commercially available intralipid solution (20%) to produce lipemic concentrations of 0, 400 (mild, 20 μL), 1,000 (moderate, 50 μL), and 2,000 mg/dL (severe, 100 μL). Glucose, renal function test, electrolytes, and liver function test were estimated in all the samples. Baseline data without the effect of interference was considered as true value and percentage bias for the spiked samples was calculated. Interference was considered significant if the interference bias percentage exceeded 10%. Result Parameters like glucose, urea, creatinine, direct bilirubin, sodium, potassium, and chloride showed negative interference at mild and moderate lipemic concentration and positive interference at severe lipemic concentration. Parameters like aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) showed negative interference at mild and positive interference at moderate and severe lipemic concentration. Whereas uric acid, total protein, albumin, total bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorous showed positive interference at all concentrations. Significant interference (> 10%) was shown for magnesium (mild lipemia), albumin, direct bilirubin, ALT, and AST at moderate lipemic concentration. All parameters showed significant interference at severe lipemic concentration. Conclusion All the study parameters are affected by lipemic interference at varying levels. Laboratory-specific data regarding lipemic interference at various concentrations on the clinical biochemistry parameters is needed