Post-translational modification of hemoglobin in alcoholism

Hemolysates from a majority of alcoholic individuals contain a hemoglobin fraction having chromatographic properties resembling those of hemoglobin A_Ic, a normally occurring glycosylated hemoglobin, but differing from the latter in not being bound by boronated agarose. A hemoglobin fraction having similar properties was also isolated from human erythrocytes exposed to acetaldehyde. These observations and other evidence suggest that the abnormal hemoglobin fraction present in men and women addicted to alcohol is produced by addition to hemoglobin A_o of an aldehyde or ketone formed metabolically from ethanol and thus may serve as a diagnostic indicator of alcoholism.