DIAGNOSIS OF ALCOHOL-RELATED NEUROLOGICAL DISEASES BY ANALYSIS OF CARBOHYDRATE-DEFICIENT TRANSFERRIN IN SERUM

Analysis of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) in serum has been shown to be a good marker of current regular alcohol consumption at l evels that are potentially harmful both to the liver and the nervous s ystem. In this study CDT was analyzed by anion exchange chromatography and the results were evaluated in 134 consecutively examined patients with neurological symptoms of possible or probable alcohol-related et iology. A total of 22% of the patients were regarded as current alcoho l abusers and 93% of them had elevated CDT values. The majority of the se cases suffered from diseases such as epilepsy, neuropathies, cerebr al atrophy/dementia and cerebellopathy. Most of them were still in a s ocially functioning condition. Low alcohol consuming patients and abst aining patients with a previous history of alcohol abuse had CDT level s within the normal range. The results demonstrated that determination of CDT is a valuable tool in the diagnosis of alcohol-related neurolo gical disorders provided that its biological turnover is taken into ac count.