Carbohydrate-Deficient Transferrin - A Contemporary Biomarker in Comparison with Traditional Laboratory Markers of Chronic Alcohol Abuse

Abstract

Carbohydrate-Deficient Transferrin - A Contemporary Biomarker in Comparison with Traditional Laboratory Markers of Chronic Alcohol AbuseTimely identification of excessive alcohol use and its potential complications is a prerequisite for successful treatment. Several routine tests have been used in laboratories that may help in diagnosing alcoholism, such as determination of MCV, AST, ALT, GGT, but it has been shown that they lack specificity and sensitivity. Contemporary bio-markers are increasingly being used today that may due to their unique characteristics help in discovering the onset of chronic alcohol abuse, as well as in abstinence and relapse monitoring. The term carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) stands for a small group of human transferrin isoforms (asialo, monosialo, and disialotran sferrin) with a lower degree of glycosylation in comparison to the dominant transferrin isoform (tetrasialotransferrin). Persons consuming large quantities of alcohol (≥50-80 g daily) over a period of at least two weeks have increased concentrations of transferrin isoforms lacking one (disialotransferrin) or both (asialotransferrin) carbohydrate chains. In this paper the traditional markers of chronic alcohol abuse (GGT, AST, ALT, and MCV) were determined, as well as the new biomarker CDT, after which diagnostic evaluation was performed and their usability and clinical value in routine laboratory practice were estimated. These markers were also determined in heavy alcoholics on admission into hospital and after two weeks of therapy, with the aim of estimating their diagnostic value for abstinence and relapse monitoring.