Fig. 2

Immunocytochemical stainings for acetaldehyde adducts. Confocal fluorescence micrographs of bone marrow specimens (A–D,F) and peripheral blood erythrocytes (E), which were stained immunocytochemically for the presence of acetaldehyde adducts from 11 samples representing consecutive alcoholic patients and from 9 nonalcoholic patients with macrocytosis. The stainings were carried out with monospecific antibodies recognizing acetaldehyde-derived epitopes in proteins independent of the nature of the carrier protein. Acetaldehyde adducts in the erythropoietic cells were found in 8 of 11 (73%) of the alcohol-abusing patients. Figures A–D demonstrate the staining data from four different individual patients. Positive staining also occurred in the circulating erythrocytes both inside the erythrocytes and on the cell membrane (E). Routine examination of the blood smears prepared from the alcoholic patients also revealed the presence of stomatocytes and knizocytes. Stainings of bone marrow samples from nonalcoholic patients were devoid of specific signal (F).