O17: A comparison between serum carbohydrate-deficient transferrin and hair ethyl glucuronide in detecting chronic alcohol consumption

Abstract

Aim In heavy alcohol consumption laboratory tests represent an objective evidence. To this aim several biomarkers and different biological matrices may be evaluated. In this study we compared common alcohol biomarkers in blood and in hair. Methods Carbohydrate-Deficient Transferrin (CDT), Ethyl Glucuronide (EtG), AST, ALT, GGT, MCV were measured in 562 subjects (M. 92%, F 8%; median age 36y, IQR 29–45, min-max 19-79). All people declared no alcohol consumption within the last three months. Serum CDT was measured by the candidate HPLC reference method and expressed as relative amount of disialotransferrin (cutoff 1.7%). EtG was measured in hair by a validated home-made method in LC-MS/MS (cut-off 30 pg/mg). Results Median% CDT, EtG, AST, ALT, GGT, MCV in the whole sample were respectively 1.1% (IQR 0.9–1.3), 8 pg/mg (IQR 6–20), 21 UI/L (IQR 18–25), 22 UI/L (IQR 17–31), 20 UI/L (IQR 14–32) and 92.4 fL (IQR 88.9–95.3). 42 (7.5%) and 76 (13.5%) subjects resulted positive, respectively, to % CDT and EtG. In particular, 30 (5.3%) subjects were positive to both tests, 12 (2.1%) positive only to % CDT, while 46 (8.2%) only to EtG. The agreement (positive and negative pairs) between % CDT and EtG was 89.7%. % CDT-positive subjects displayed significantly higher MCV (median 94.7 vs 92.3 fL; p=0.003) and EtG (median 46 vs 8 pg/mg; p displayed significantly higher MCV (median 94.0 vs 92.1 fL; p=0.001), GGT (28 vs 19 UI/L; p Conclusion Large variability exists between % CDT and EtG in detecting chronic alcohol consumption. To identify alcohol abuse in a forensic context, such as traffic medicine, the combination of different alcohol biomarkers and appropriate medical history is mandatory for the correct interpretation of individual cases.