CARBOHYDRATE-DEFICIENT TRANSFERRIN AND OTHER MARKERS OF HIGH ALCOHOL-CONSUMPTION - A STUDY OF 502 PATIENTS ADMITTED CONSECUTIVELY TO A MEDICAL DEPARTMENT
H. Bell et al., CARBOHYDRATE-DEFICIENT TRANSFERRIN AND OTHER MARKERS OF HIGH ALCOHOL-CONSUMPTION - A STUDY OF 502 PATIENTS ADMITTED CONSECUTIVELY TO A MEDICAL DEPARTMENT, Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research, 18(5), 1994, pp. 1103-1108
An isoform of transferrin, carbohydrate deficient transferrin (CDT) is
increased in a high percentage of abusing alcoholics and has been fou
nd superior in its specificity compared with other biological markers.
We used serum CDT as a screening parameter in 502 patients consecutiv
ely admitted to our medical department during a 4-week period. The int
ake of ethanol during the last 4 weeks was registrated by personal int
erviews and the mean dairy consumption calculated. Serum CDT was measu
red at admission (CDTect) and compared with gamma-glutamyltranspeptida
se (GGT), AST, ALT, end mean corpuscular volume (MCV). Serum CDT detec
ted 18 of 28 (69%) patients who consumed >50 g ethanol daily. The clin
ical sensitivity of CDT of detection ethanol consumption >50 g daily w
as 69%, compared with 73%, 50%, 35%, and 52% for increased values of G
GT, AST, ALT, and MCV, respectively. Altogether, 38 of 476 patients (8
%) with a daily ethanol consumption <50 g also had increased serum CDT
levels. The specificity of CDT was 92%, compared with 75%, 82%, 88%,
and 85% for GGT, AST, ALT, and MCV, respectively. In the 60 patients w
ho consumed >10 g ethanol daily, we found a significantly positive cor
relation between CDT and ethanol consumption (r = 0.52, p < 0.001). A
positive correlation was also found between serum transferrin and CDT
(r = 0.51, p < 0.001). In conclusion, the specificity of CDT is much h
igher compared with GGT in detecting alcohol abuse. Some acute and chr
onic illnesses may increase the serum level of CDT. False-positive CDT
levels may be caused by changes in serum transferrin concentration.