Key Benefits

• Check for alcohol-related liver stress and red-cell changes that signal heavy drinking.
• Spot early liver stress; GGT often rises with recent heavy drinking.
• Flag typical alcohol pattern; AST higher than ALT suggests alcohol-related liver injury.
• Explain fatigue or numbness; high MCV suggests alcohol toxicity or folate deficiency.
• Guide treatment plans; results inform counseling, thiamine, nutrition, and relapse-prevention medications.
• Track recovery; GGT and MCV fall with sustained abstinence over weeks to months.
• Protect fertility and pregnancy; reducing alcohol and liver stress supports healthier outcomes.
• Best interpreted with your drinking history, symptoms, bilirubin, platelets, and ultrasound findings.

What are Alcohol Use Disorder

Alcohol Use Disorder biomarkers are measurable signals in blood, urine, or breath that reveal recent alcohol exposure and the body’s biological response to it. They translate behavior into biology, allowing clinicians to confirm drinking, estimate pattern and intensity, and detect early organ strain. Some markers reflect direct exposure (ethyl glucuronide and ethyl sulfate, EtG/EtS), some form only when alcohol is present in cell membranes (phosphatidylethanol, PEth), and others show alcohol’s longer-term effects on proteins and enzymes (carbohydrate‑deficient transferrin, CDT; gamma‑glutamyl transferase, GGT; aspartate aminotransferase, AST) or blood cells (mean corpuscular volume, MCV). Together, these signals provide an objective picture that complements self‑report: they support diagnosis, help tailor counseling and medications, monitor abstinence or reduction, flag early relapse, and inform safety decisions for procedures or prescriptions. By indicating how alcohol is affecting the liver, pancreas, heart, and brain, biomarker testing links day‑to‑day drinking with tangible biology, making it easier to track change and guide care.

Why are Alcohol Use Disorder biomarkers important?

Alcohol Use Disorder biomarkers turn drinking patterns into measurable strain across systems. Liver enzymes (GGT, AST, ALT) show enzyme induction and cell injury; red‑cell size (MCV) reflects marrow and nutrient effects, signaling exposure, organ vulnerability, and recovery trajectory.

GGT is commonly normal below about 40–60 and is healthiest near the low end. AST and ALT typically sit in the teens to 30s; low‑normal values and an AST:ALT near 1 imply quiet liver turnover. MCV is usually ~80–100, with mid‑range ideal.

When GGT and transaminases are low, the liver shows little induction or leakage, so active alcohol‑related injury is unlikely, though use can still occur. A low MCV instead points to iron deficiency or inherited microcytosis—fatigue, pallor, breathlessness—more common in menstruating women and during pregnancy.

Rising GGT marks alcohol exposure and cholestatic stress. Elevated AST and ALT, especially an AST higher than ALT (often >2 to 1), suggest alcohol‑related hepatitis; fatigue, right‑upper‑quadrant discomfort, or jaundice may appear. An MCV above 100 signals macrocytosis from ethanol toxicity or folate deficiency; women may show changes at lower intake, teens with sustained heavy use.

Viewed with CDT, bilirubin, platelets, and metabolic labs, these markers connect alcohol to liver, marrow, cardiovascular, and neurologic risk. Persistent abnormalities predict fibrosis and cirrhosis, pancreatitis, cardiomyopathy, some cancers, and cognitive decline; normalization over time supports organ recovery and lower long‑term risk.

What Insights Will I Get?

Alcohol Use Disorder biomarker testing matters because alcohol impacts liver metabolism, oxidative stress, blood formation, and signaling pathways that touch energy production, glucose handling, cardiovascular risk, cognition, immunity, and hormone balance. At Superpower, we test GGT, AST/ALT, and MCV to capture these system-wide effects.

GGT (gamma‑glutamyl transferase) is a liver and biliary enzyme that is inducible by alcohol; it rises with microsomal enzyme induction and cholestatic stress. AST and ALT are hepatocellular enzymes; alcohol-related liver injury often shows higher AST than ALT because of mitochondrial injury and reduced ALT activity. MCV (mean corpuscular volume) reflects red blood cell size; chronic alcohol exposure can cause macrocytosis through direct marrow toxicity and folate-related effects, with or without anemia.

For stability and healthy function, a GGT within reference range suggests low enzyme induction and lower hepatic oxidative burden; persistently high GGT signals instability in detoxification pathways and higher cardiometabolic risk. Balanced AST/ALT within reference ranges indicates hepatocyte integrity; elevations—especially a pattern with AST higher than ALT—suggest ongoing hepatocellular stress that can impair energy metabolism and lipid handling. An MCV in range supports effective erythropoiesis and oxygen delivery; elevated MCV points to disrupted red cell production that can accompany anemia and reduced physiologic reserve.

Notes: Interpretation is influenced by age, sex, pregnancy, body size, and assay methods. Many medications (e.g., anticonvulsants, statins, acetaminophen), smoking, strenuous exercise, and nonalcoholic liver diseases (NAFLD, viral hepatitis, cholestasis) can raise enzymes. B12/folate deficiency, hypothyroidism, and some drugs can increase MCV independent of alcohol.