Plasma tau, NfL, GFAP and UCHL1 as candidate biomarkers of alcohol withdrawal-associated brain damage: A pilot study

Addict Biol. 2022 Nov;27(6):e13232. doi: 10.1111/adb.13232.

Abstract

In this translational study, we investigated the plasma tau protein, neurofilament light chain (NfL), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCHL1), which are established biomarkers of neurological injury, as predictive biomarkers of alcohol withdrawal-associated brain toxicity. In the clinical study, patients with severe alcohol use disorder (AUD) on D1 of hospitalization for alcohol cessation (AC) (N = 36) were compared to severe AUD patients with at least 3 months of abstinence (N = 16). Overall, patients were 40 men (76.9%), aged 49.8 years [SD ±9.9]. Tau, NfL, GFAP and UCHL1 levels were measured using SIMOA and analysed with a quasipoisson regression model adjusted for age and sex. The NfL level was higher in the AC group (p = 0.013). In the AC group, the tau (p = 0.021) and UCHL1 (p = 0.021) levels were positively associated with the dose of diazepam per weight, and the tau (p = 0.045), NfL (p = 4.9 × 10-3 ) and UCHL1 (p = 0.036) levels were higher in the presence of signs of Wernicke's encephalopathy (n = 9). In the preclinical study, NfL and GFAP levels were assessed in the alcohol deprivation effect (ADE) procedure (N = 17) and control Wistar rats (N = 15). Furthermore, ADE rats were prospectively assessed: after 24 h (T1) and 3 weeks of AC (T2) (paired-samples Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney tests). The NfL level was higher in the ADE model than in the control rats at both T1 and T2 (p = 0.033 and p = 1.3 × 10-3 ) and higher at T2 than at T1 (p = 0.040). Plasma tau, NfL and UCHL1 are potential biomarkers of brain suffering during alcohol withdrawal.

Keywords: alcohol brain damage; alcohol use disorder; biomarkers; neurofilament light chain; rats; tau protein.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Alcoholism*
  • Animals
  • Biomarkers
  • Brain
  • Cohort Studies
  • Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein
  • Neurofilament Proteins
  • Pilot Projects
  • Rats
  • Rats, Wistar
  • Substance Withdrawal Syndrome*
  • Ubiquitin Thiolesterase

Substances

  • Neurofilament Proteins
  • Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein
  • Ubiquitin Thiolesterase
  • Biomarkers
  • UCHL1 protein, rat