IS CARBOHYDRATE-DEFICIENT TRANSFERRIN A MARKER FOR ALCOHOL INTAKE?
We investigated %CDT (carbohydrate-deficient transferrin) in 92 ethanol-intoxicated alcohol-dependent patients after consecutive admission to hospital and followed them for 28 days under controlled conditions. At admission, 63% (58 patients) showed elevated CDT (>2.5%) and 34 patients (37%) had normal CDT levels (<2.5%). No correlation of the %CDT values to alcohol-related disabilities, severity of the withdrawal syndrome, alcohol-drinking pattern before admission, or several other factors was found. The sensitivity of GGT (-glutamyl transferase) was 58% for the same group of patients. Levels of %CDT decreased during the 28 days following abstinence, whereby we could separate four statistically different groups of CDT decrease . In two of these groups, comprising most of the cases studied, normal %CDT levels were reached after 14 days of abstinence. Those patients with %CDT levels exceeding the upper normal level after 14 days of sobriety, showed a decrease during the following 14 days
