Evaluation of the diagnostic utility of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin in chronic alcoholism: Results from Southwest China

Although recent gathered evidence indicates that obtaining the diagnostic value of serum carbohydrate-deficient transferrin might be more useful for identifying alcohol abuse than other widely available biochemical tests; however, its precise value as an indicator of chronic alcoholism is unclear. The main objective is to investigate the diagnostic significance of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin in chronic alcoholism in the Chinese population. In this study, we enrolled (1) 52 physically healthy subjects, (2) 20 patients with nonalcoholic liver disease, and (3) 70 alcoholics. Patients with liver injuries and a history of liver surgery were excluded. Serum gamma-glutamyltransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and mean corpuscular volume were determined by standard biochemical assays, and serum carbohydrate-deficient transferrin was estimated in each group using capillary electrophoresis. Subsequently, the diagnostic value of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) in chronic alcoholism was determined based on differences between each indicator among the three groups. The CDT level in the alcoholic group was significantly higher than that of the non-alcoholic liver disease and healthy control groups (P < .05). The area under the curve for alcoholism diagnosis was the highest for CDT, at 0.922, whereas those for gamma-glutamyltransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and mean corpuscular volume were 0.860, 0.744, 0.615, and 0.754, respectively. When the cutoff value of CDT was set at 1.25%, the sensitivity and specificity were 85.5% and 89.6%, respectively. However, the correlation between CDT and daily alcohol consumption was weak (r = 0.175; P = .16). Compared with the other parameters evaluated, CDT was a better indicator of alcoholism. It should, therefore, be actively promoted in clinical practice. However, the correlation between CDT and daily alcohol consumption needs further evaluation.