Effects of moderate drinking and alcohol abstinence on urinary dolichol levels.

Urinary dolichols were studied during a period of 10 days of moderate drinking (60 g of alcohol daily), preceded and followed by a period of abstinence, in 10 healthy volunteers. No significant changes were observed in dolichol levels during this time. Thus, moderate alcohol consumption does not affect urinary dolichols. Furthermore, to establish the time of abstinence needed for elevated urinary dolichol levels to return to normal, 17 alcoholic patients entering a detoxification unit and with initially increased urinary dolichols, were followed for seven days. Mean urinary dolichol level, which was clearly elevated in the beginning of detoxification, returned to normal by the 5th day of the treatment. Half-life decay for increased urinary dolichols was found to be about 3 days.