Which Types of Alcohol-Use Disorder Will Asialotransferrin Detect?

Performance of Asialotransferrin in Detecting Alcohol Abuse

BACKGROUND

The spectrum of alcohol use disorders covers hazardous use, alcohol abuse, and alcohol dependence. The present study evaluated the performance of asialotransferrin, a newly proposed biomarker for alcohol use disorders, in detecting alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence.

METHOD

A 4-month trial was conducted in three groups of participants: alcohol abusers and alcohol-dependent patients, as defined in DSM-IV, and a control group. Asialotransferrin was assayed by capillary zone electrophoresis.

RESULTS

Asialotransferrin demonstrated a sensitivity of 0.34 and a specificity of 1.00 for alcohol abuse. The sensitivity of asialotransferrin increased to 0.57 in alcohol-dependent patients.

CONCLUSION

Despite the high specificity of asialotransferrin in alcohol use disorders, its sensitivity is too low to make it a useful marker of alcohol abuse.

Multicenter Validation Study of the %CDT TIA Kit in Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol Dependence

BACKGROUND

Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) are used as biomarkers of alcohol misuse. The aim of this study was to evaluate, in terms of sensitivity and specificity, the performance of the new Bio-Rad %CDT TIA kit and GGT assay for identifying alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence (according to the DSM-IV criteria).

METHODS

An open multicenter study (30 centers) over 3 months, including patient groups of "abusers," "dependents," and controls, was conducted in France.

RESULTS

In alcohol abuse, the sensitivity of GGT was 0.56, and that of CDT was 0.80; in alcohol dependence, the sensitivity of GGT was 0.86, and that of CDT was 0.91. The specificity of GGT was 0.77, and that of CDT was 0.83. The association of GGT with CDT increased sensitivity for alcohol abuse to 0.90 and for alcohol dependence to 0.99, but it appreciably decreased specificity (0.63).

CONCLUSIONS

%CDT is the better screening marker for alcohol abuse and dependence, but GGT is still a useful marker for the detection of alcohol dependence. As an assay method, the second-generation Bio-Rad %CDT immunoassay can be recommended for routine CDT measurement.