Pc. Naik et al., CLINICAL-EVALUATION OF CARBOHYDRATE-DEFICIENT TRANSFERRIN AS AN INDICATOR OF ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE, Irish journal of psychological medicine, 11(2), 1994, pp. 64-66
Objective: To evaluate the clinical usefulness of carbohydrate deficie
nt transferrin (CDT) as an indicator of alcohol dependence (DSM 111R).
Method: Subjects included 18 patients with alcohol dependence and 36
controls (15 recovering alcohol dependents and 21 blood donors). Blood
samples from the subjects were analysed for CDT, mean corpuscular vol
ume (MCV) and gamma Glutamyltransferase (gammaGT). These indicators we
re compared for their sensitivities and specificities to detect excess
ive alcohol use. Results: Amongst patients with alcohol dependence, CD
T was detected in all (100%), gammaGT was raised in 8 (44%) and MCV wa
s raised in 4 (22%). CDT was detected in five of the 36 controls. Conc
lusion: CDT was the most sensitive indicator of alcohol dependence. Ho
wever, CDT showed a much higher false positive rate compared to previo
us studies. More research is required to elicit at what level of alcoh
ol consumption CDT becomes positive. CDT could prove to be a clinicall
y useful indicator of excessive alcohol use in future.