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Abstract
The authors conducted a study of alcohol use biomarkers and cognitive performance among 85 veterans with problematic alcohol use and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). All analyses were adjusted for demographics, depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms. Elevated levels of aspartate aminotransferase were associated with worse performance on the Trail Making Test Part A and Hopkins Verbal Learning Test. Two other biomarkers were not associated with any neurocognitive measures. Indirect alcohol use biomarkers (e.g., aspartate aminotransferase) may have a specific role in identifying veterans with problematic alcohol use and PTSD who show a change in psychomotor speed and immediate verbal memory performance.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We gratefully acknowledge the time and contributions of the Mind Your Heart Study participants, staff, and Investigators, particularly Dr. Mary Whooley.
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this paper.
FUNDING
Dr. Kalapatapu is currently funded by K23DA034883. Dr. Neylan is currently funded by grants from the National Institute for Mental Health (TCN: 5R01MH073978-04, 5R34MH077667-03) and the Mental Illness Research and Education Clinical Center of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Cohen is currently funded by K23HL094765 and a grant from the American Heart Association.