Carbohydrate-Deficient Transferrin Measured by Capillary Zone Electrophoresis and by Turbidimetric Immunoassay for Identification of Young Heavy Drinkers

Abstract

Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) measured by capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE), particularly asialo-transferrin (Tf), is purported to better differentiate between excessive and moderate drinkers than does CDT measured by turbidimetric immunoassay (TIA) (1)(2). The use of biological markers such as CDT is of particular interest for identifying young heavy drinkers because other clinical signs of heavy drinking are generally absent and heavy drinking is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in this age group (3)(4). Several authors have shown interest in the ability of CDT to identify nondependent heavy drinkers (5)(6); we therefore describe here the performance of CZE measurements of asialo- and disialo-Tf and TIA analysis of CDT in a large community sample of 19-year-old men, of whom 21% were heavy drinkers. From a sample of 1018 men attending a mandatory 1-day army recruitment process for all Swiss males at age 19 years, 1004 (98.6%) agreed to complete a research questionnaire. Of these, 581 young men (57.9%) consented to give blood for the measurement of asialo-Tf (CZE), disialo-Tf (CZE), and CDT (TIA). The Ethics Committee of the Lausanne University Medical School approved the study protocol. Volunteers were compensated for participation in the study. Volunters gave written informed consent and then completed an instrument entitled “Health and Lifestyle Questionnaire”, which included questions assessing the typical quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption during the 12 months preceding the survey and the frequency of drunkenness over the last 30 days. One drink was defined as a 250-mL can or bottle of beer, a 120-mL glass of wine, or a 40-mL shot of liquor straight or in a mixed drink, and corresponded to ∼12 g of pure ethanol. A study investigator was present during administration of the questionnaire to verify that participants answered all items. Serum samples were …