Intravenous Galactose Elimination Tests with and without Ethanol Loading in Various Clinical Conditions

Abstract

Salaspuro, M. P. & Kesäniemi, Y. A. Intravenous galactose elimination tests with and without ethanol loading in various clinical conditions. Scand. J. Gastroent. 1973, 8, 681-686.

Intravenous galactose elimination tests with and without a previous ethanol load have been used to study liver function in 53 normal persons and 105 patients with various clinical conditions. The ethanol-induced inhibition of galactose elimination was significantly greater in normal subjects than in alcoholics with fatty liver and inadequate food consumption, or in patients with malabsorption, grave malignancy, or thyrotoxicosis. Inhibition was also diminished in patients with liver cirrhosis. In patients with adequate nutrition – 10 chronic alcoholics, 12 diabetics, and 11 obese subjects – ethanol in-hibited galactose elimination quite normally in spite of a histologically con-firmed fatty liver. Four weeks on a high protein diet normalized the effect of ethanol on galactose elimination in chronic alcoholics with poor nutrition. A combined ethanol-galactose elimination test is not specific for fatty liver, but if the inhibition of galactose elimination caused by ethanol is below 16 minutes (T1/2), protein deficiency must be suspected as a possible causal factor of the fatty liver.

Key-words::

• Alcohol ethyl
• alcoholism
• fatty liver
• galactose
• liver
• liver cirrhosis
• liver function tests
• malabsorption
• protein deficiency
• thyrotoxicosis