Preclinical Validation of an Electrochemical Sensor for Alcoholism Monitoring in a Polydrug Self-Administration Animal Model
Abstract
An electrochemical sensor for identification and monitoring of chronic alcohol abuse and alcoholism was preclinically validated by the analysis of plasma from polydrug-consuming rats (alcohol and cocaine). The sensor measures the glycosylation level of transferrin as an electrochemical index of glycosylation (EIG). Three rat groups were designed: saline group, cocaine group and cocaine-alcohol group. Moreover, two periods of withdrawal were studied, after 2 days and 30 days. The alcohol-cocaine group after 2 days of withdrawal showed significantly lower EIG values (p<0.1) than the rest of groups (saline groups, cocaine groups and alcohol-cocaine group after 30 days of withdrawal), so the sensor was able to identify the alcohol abuse in rats and the recovery of glycosylation level after 30 days of withdrawal, even combined with cocaine. Furthermore, the effect of sex was also considered. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were developed for each sex and the corresponding cut-off values were determined. The sensor showed a clinical sensitivity of 70% for male and 75% for female, and a specificity of 67% for both sexes. This preclinical validation demonstrated the possibilities of this sensor for point of care testing of chronic alcohol abuse, even in cocaine addicts, making it a potential tool for diagnosis and monitoring of alcohol consumption in detox treatments for humans.
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Evidence Hub reads this as a preprint, done in animal, not in people. Its evidence level is 5 of 5 (Very low · case / narrative / animal / in vitro / in silico). Case reports, narrative reviews, and animal, cell or computer-model studies give the weakest evidence for human health.
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