The possible use of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, HDL phospholipids, apolipoproteins (APO) A-I and A-II as markers of alcohol abuse was studied in 78 intemperate drinkers. The mean value for each of these parameters was higher in drinkers than in control subjects. The most significant increase was observed in the plasma apo A-II levels (+45%). A composite index of gammaglutamyltranspeptidase (GGTP) and apo A-II was superior to GGTP alone in discriminating drinkers (+14%). Moreover, apo A-II assay is simple to perform.