Somatostatin-like immunoreactivity in the CSF of patients with dementia associated with alcoholism.

Cerebrospinal fluid somatostatin-like immunoreactivity (CSF SLI) was determined for 9 patients with chronic alcohol ingestion and dementia associated with alcoholism and for 8 age-equivalent controls. The CSF SLI was significantly reduced (32%) in the alcoholics with dementia as compared to the controls. This finding is in accordance with previous observations on the relationship between reduced CSF SLI and cognitive impairment in various neuropsychiatric disorders, and extends this finding to patients with dementia associated with alcoholism.