Korean J Biol Psychiatry.  2006 Nov;13(4):273-278.

Comparing Biological Markers of Alcohol Dependence in the Patients of an Alcohol Counseling Center

• Byun JH
• Lee BC
• Ham BJ
• Chung CS
• Hur M
• Lee JJ
• Choi IG

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
Biochemical markers can provide an objective evidence of heavy alcohol drinking. The purpose of this study was to compare and evaluate the usefulness of biological markers detecting alcohol dependence, such as mean corpuscular volume(MCV), gamma-glutamyl transferase(GGT), and carbohydrate-deficient transferrin(CDT) in the patients of an alcohol counseling center.
METHODS
This study was done with 64 patients with alcohol dependence and 36 healthy subjects. Relative values(%) of CDT were determined in their sera with turbidimetric immunoassay(Bio-Rad %CDT assay, Axis-Shield ASA, Oslo, Norway), and were compared with conventional markers of alcohol consumption, GGT and MCV.
RESULTS
Among the patients with alcohol dependence, 78.1% showed abnormal %CDT levels compared with GGT(61.9%) and MCV(20.7%). The areas under the receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curves(95% confidence interval) for %CDT, GGT, and MCV were 0.934(0.866-0.973), 0.871(0.789-0.930), and 0.575 (0.472-0.673), respectively.
CONCLUSION
%CDT seems to be the most reliable biological marker for the detection and monitoring of alcohol consumption in the patients with alcohol dependence of the alcohol counseling center.

Keyword

Alcohol dependence; Biological marker; Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin; Gamma-glutamyltransferase; Mean corpuscular volume

MeSH Terms

Alcohol Drinking
Alcoholism*
Biomarkers*
Counseling*
Erythrocyte Indices
gamma-Glutamyltransferase
Humans
gamma-Glutamyltransferase