Experimental study on the significance of serum alcohol dehydrogenase activity

Clinical usefulness of serum alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity was studied by experimental animals, comparing to the activities of glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT) and glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH) in serum. ADH was shown to be distributed predominantly in zone 3 of hepatic acinus in rat by immunohistochemical method. Serum ADH activity was markedly increased when bromobenzene was administered, reflecting zone 3 hepatic necrosis. However, ally lalcohol administration resulted in slight increase of serum ADH activity compared with elevation of other enzymes. Furthermore, serum ADH activity increased preceding GLDH in early phase after administration of bromobenzene. The results of experimental model with acute alcohol administration or hypoxia induced liver damage also suggested that ADH is a sensitive indicator of hepatic zone 3 damage.