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Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access originally published online on June 23, 2006
Alcohol and Alcoholism 2006 41(5):528-533; doi:10.1093/alcalc/agl050
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Medical Council on Alcohol. All rights reserved

COMPARISON OF THE COMBINED MARKER GGT–CDT AND THE CONVENTIONAL LABORATORY MARKERS OF ALCOHOL ABUSE IN HEAVY DRINKERS, MODERATE DRINKERS AND ABSTAINERS

JOHANNA HIETALA, HEIDI KOIVISTO, PETRA ANTTILA and ONNI NIEMELÄ*

Department of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Research Unit, Seinäjoki Central Hospital and University of Tampere, FIN-60220 Seinäjoki, Finland

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +358 6 415 4719; Fax: +358 6 415 4924; E-mail: onni.niemela{at}epshp.fi

(Received 6 January 2006; first review notified 19 April 2006; in revised form 5 May 2006; accepted 19 May 2006)

Aims: A combined index based on {gamma}-glutamyltransferase (GGT) and carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) measurements (GGT–CDT) has been recently suggested to improve the detection of excessive ethanol consumption. The aim of this work was to compare GGT–CDT with the conventional markers of alcohol abuse in individuals with a wide variety of alcohol consumption. Methods: A cross-sectional and follow-up analysis was conducted in a sample of 165 heavy drinkers, consuming 40–540 g of ethanol per day, and 86 reference individuals who were either moderate drinkers (n = 51) or abstainers (n = 35). Results: GGT–CDT (5.35 ± 1.08) in the heavy drinkers was significantly higher than in the reference individuals (3.30 ± 0.37). The sensitivity of GGT–CDT (90%) in correctly classifying heavy drinkers exceeded that of CDT (63%), GGT (58%), mean corpuscular volume (MCV) (45%), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (47%), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (50%), being also essentially similar for alcoholics with (93%) or without (88%) liver disease. When comparing the data using either moderate drinkers or abstainers as reference population, the sensitivity of GGT–CDT, CDT, and ALT remained unchanged whereas the sensitivity of GGT, MCV, and AST was found to show variation. Conclusions: GGT–CDT improves the sensitivity of detecting excessive ethanol consumption as compared with the traditional markers of ethanol consumption. These findings should be considered in the assessment of patients with alcohol use disorders.


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