Alcohol drinking severity, craving, cognition and blood parameters in alcohol-dependent persons recovered from COVID-19
Background: Research has shown changes in hematological parameters, C-reactive protein (CRP), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (SE) in the acute phase of the COVID-19 disease in alcohol-dependent patients. Since people addicted to alcohol often suffer from liver disease and hyperlipidemia, more significant abnormalities in laboratory parameters can be expected during the acute phase and in the post-COVID-19 period about which research are lacking. Thus, we examined the association between the severity of alcohol drinking, craving, and cognitive symptoms and inflammatory (SE, CRP) and biochemical parameters such as aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) in alcohol-dependent persons who have recovered from COVID-19.
Methods: A follow-up survey conducted from March 2023 to March 2024 included 30 alcohol-dependent patients who have recovered from COVID-19 and 30 alcohol-dependent patients who have not had COVID-19, recruited consecutively during the alcohol dependence treatment. The first point of measurement was when the participant was included in the research and the second was after 6 months from the first assessment. Diagnosis of alcohol dependence was determined according to the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10) and according to Croatian version 5.0.0. Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.). The survey consisted of a self-reported questionnaire on socio-demographic, medical, and alcohol dependence severity data, the questionnaire on the severity of the COVID-19 disease (self-reported acute and long COVID-19 symptoms), the Alcohol-related Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), the Penn Alcohol Craving Scale (PACS), the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). SE, CRP, complete blood count (CBC) and differential blood count (DBC), AST, ALT, GGT, triglicerides, LDL, and HDL were included. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the association between the severity of alcohol drinking, craving, cognitive symptoms and blood parameters.
Results: Our preliminary results show more severe changes in hepatic transaminases, blood lipids, and cognitive symptoms with more severe alcohol drinking and more severe craving in alcohol-dependent patients who have recovered from COVID-19 (p<0.01 for all).
Conclusion: The findings could contribute to knowledge about basic blood parameters as biomarkers of cognitive and alcohol dependence symptoms in alcohol-dependent persons who have recovered from COVID-19. The results of the research could make it easier to diagnose the long-term consequences of COVID-19 in persons addicted to alcohol and enable their more adequate treatment.
