Porpiglia NM, Tagliaro F, Micciolo R, Canal L, Musile G, Bortolotti F. New evidence of high association between carbohydrate deficient transferrin (CDT) and alcohol-related road traffic accidents. A retrospective study on 929 injured drivers.
Forensic Sci Int 2022;
340:111438. [PMID:
36029720 DOI:
10.1016/j.forsciint.2022.111438]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2022] [Accepted: 08/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND
It is well known that traffic injuries still represent one of the main causes of death and that high blood alcohol concentrations while driving significantly increase the occurrence of accidents. However, only limited literature on the correlation between chronic alcohol abuse and accident risk is available. The aim of the present study was to investigate the hypothesis of an association between elevated concentrations of carbohydrate deficient transferrin (CDT) and the occurrence of alcohol-related traffic accidents.
METHODS
The analytical determinations of BAC and CDT were performed following certified methods in HS-GC-FID and HPLC, respectively. For BAC, 0.50 g/L was used as cut-off, whereas 2.0% was used for CDT, according to the standardisation proposed by IFCC. A total of 929 drivers, tested for BAC at the time of hospital admission after a traffic accident, were classified into two groups: InjDr 1 (BAC ≤ 0.50 g/L) and InjDr 2 (BAC>0.50 g/L); all drivers were also tested for CDT.
RESULTS
InjDr 1 included 674 individuals, only 2.5% showing a CDT above the cutoff, whereas InjDr 2 group consisted of 255 subjects, 28.6% testing positive for CDT (Odds Ratio 15.5). When subdividing the InjDr group into increasing classes of CDT, a steady increase in the percentage of BAC-positive drivers was appreciated. Moreover, average BAC was found to parallel each class of CDT.
CONCLUSIONS
The reported data strongly support the use of CDT as a biomarker of increased risk of alcohol-related traffic accidents in the procedures of re-granting of the driving license upon confiscation for "drink driving".
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