title: Performance of asialotransferrin in detecting alcohol abuse.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The spectrum of alcohol use disorders covers hazardous use, alcohol abuse, and alcohol dependence. The present study evaluated the performance of asialotransferrin, a newly proposed biomarker for alcohol use disorders, in detecting alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 4-month trial was conducted in three groups of participants: alcohol abusers and alcohol-dependent patients, as defined in DSM-IV, and a control group. Asialotransferrin was assayed by capillary zone electrophoresis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Asialotransferrin demonstrated a sensitivity of 0.34 and a specificity of 1.00 for alcohol abuse. The sensitivity of asialotransferrin increased to 0.57 in alcohol-dependent patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite the high specificity of asialotransferrin in alcohol use disorders, its sensitivity is too low to make it a useful marker of alcohol abuse.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital, Clermont-Ferrand, France. rschwan@chu-clermontferrand.fr
authors.forename: Raymund
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schwan
authors.forename: Marie-Nadia
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Loiseaux
authors.forename: Eliane
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Albuisson
authors.forename: Franz J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Legros
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nuyens
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Malet
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Chéreau-Boudet
authors.forename: Pierre-Michel
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Llorca
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001212:Asialoglycoproteins / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D014168:Transferrin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*
chemical_list: D001212:Asialoglycoproteins; D015415:Biomarkers; D014168:Transferrin; C017031:asialotransferrins