A comparative study between carbohydrate-deficient transferrin and gamma-glutamyltransferase for the diagnosis of excessive drinking in a liver unit.

Abstract

AIM:

To compare the efficacy of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin and gamma-glutamyltransferase for the diagnosis of excessive alcohol intake in patients admitted in a liver unit.

METHODS:

The 346 patients were divided into three groups of alcoholics: 57 patients (31 men, 26 women) with a normal liver, 77 patients (51 men, 26 women) with non-cirrhotic alcoholic liver disease, and 61 patients (43 men, 18 women) with alcoholic cirrhosis; and three groups of non-alcoholics: 35 abstainers (21 men, 14 women), and 58 healthy blood donors (26 men, 32 women), and 58 patients (32 men, 26 women) who had a non-alcoholic liver disease. Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin and gamma-glutamyltransferase were measured at admission using commercially available kits.

RESULTS:

Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin was more sensitive than gamma-glutamyltransferase in patients without alcoholic liver disease, in both men (85 vs 54%) and women (64 vs 36%). Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin sensitivity decreased slightly but not significantly according to the severity of the liver disease in men and women. The sensitivity of gamma-glutamyltransferase which was low in men and women without alcoholic liver disease, improved in groups with moderate or severe alcoholic liver disease: not less than 80% in men and up to 100% in women. The specificity of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin in patients with non-alcoholic liver disease was consistently higher than that of gamma-glutamyltransferase (80% vs 60%).

CONCLUSIONS:

In liver units, carbohydrate-deficient transferrin can help to identify excessive drinkers without liver disease with a higher efficacy than that of gamma-glutamyltransferase; carbohydrate-deficient transferrin can also be used to distinguish between alcoholics with moderate liver disease and patients with non-alcoholic liver diseases.

• Authors: B Nalpas, E Hispard, V Thépot, S Pot, S Dally, P Berthelot
• Journal: Journal of hepatology (J Hepatol) Vol. 27 Issue 6 Pg. 1003-8 (Dec 1997) ISSN: 0168-8278 [Print] Netherlands
• PMID: 9453425 (Publication Type: Comparative Study, Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Transferrin
• carbohydrate-deficient transferrin
• gamma-Glutamyltransferase

Topics

• Adult
• Aged
• Female
• Humans
• Liver Diseases, Alcoholic (diagnosis)
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Sex Factors
• Transferrin (analogs & derivatives, analysis)
• gamma-Glutamyltransferase (blood)