Selected demographic, clinical and laboratory characteristics of the study cohort
| Health controls (N = 20) | Excessive drinkers (N=20) | P values | |
| Age (years) | 30.7±9.1 | 36.9±10.0 | 0.05 |
| Males (N, %) | 17 (85) | 15 (69) | 0.18 |
| Race (Caucasian, N, %) | 13 (65) | 17 (77) | 0.62 |
| Smoking (N, %) | 14 (70) | 15 (68) | 1.00 |
| Height (cm) | 178.5±7.7 | 172.9±8.1 | 0.06 |
| Weight (kg) | 78.2±8.7 | 77.5±9.8 | 0.39 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 29.1±5.3 | 26.1±3.5 | 0.09 |
| Waist circumference (cm) | 103.1±15.9 | 93.1±10.0 | 0.06 |
| AUDIT-C scores | 3.3±3.1 | 27.4±8.1 | <0.001 |
| Total standard drinks last 30 days | 9.9±15.1 | 242.5±130.0 | <0.001 |
| AST (U/L) | 31.1±17.3 | 23.5±7.1 | 0.15 |
| ALT (U/L) | 22.2±16.5 | 25.2±11.5 | 0.26 |
| Albumin (g/dL) | 4.1±0.2 | 3.7±0.4 | 0.03 |
| Total protein (g/dL) | 7.8±0.6 | 6.4±0.6 | <0.01 |
| GGT (U/L) | 29.0±13.4 | 32.3±24.1 | 0.63 |
| % CDT | 1.6±0.5 | 3.0±0.8 | 0.02 |
| Serum LPS (EU/mL) | 0.13±0.03 | 0.26±0.07 | <0.05 |
| Plasma IL-6 (pg/mL) | 470±484 | 615±742 | 0.09 |
| Plasma IL-10 (pg/mL) | 254±172 | 365±484 | 0.10 |
ALT, alanine aminotransferase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; AUDIT-C, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test; BMI, body mass index; CDT, carbohydrate-deficient transferrin; GGT, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase; IL, interleukin; LPS, lipopolysaccharides.