title: Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin as a marker of heavy drinking in Korean males.
abstract: This study was performed to evaluate the usefulness of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) as a marker of heavy drinking in Korean males. The subjects (143 Korean males) were classified into 2 groups according to the amount of drinking, moderate drinkers (72 individuals) who drank 14 drinks or less per week and heavy drinkers (71 individuals) who drank more than 14 drinks per week. Using %CDT, gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) as clinical markers for heavy drinking, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were investigated. Sensitivities of %CDT, GGT, AST, and ALT were 83.1%, 67.6%, 52.1% and 46.5%, respectively. Specificities were 63.9%, 45.8%, 72.2%, and 54.2%, respectively. Positive predictive values were 69.4%, 55.2%, 64.9%, and 50.0% respectively. Negative predictive values were 79.3%, 58.9%, 60.5%, and 50.6% respectively. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (95% confidence interval) for %CDT, GGT, AST, and ALT were 0.823 (0.755-0.891), 0.578 (0.484-0.673), 0.622 (0.528-0.717), and 0.516 (0.420-0.613), respectively. CDT is considered as the most reliable marker for detecting heavy drinking in Korean males.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Chungnam National University Hospital, Daejeon, Korea.
authors.forename: Seong Min
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jong Sung
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kyoung Min
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Han Ju
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Pack
authors.forename: Dong Hoon
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sung Soo
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jin Gyu
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Jung
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology; D044466:Asian People; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000097:blood; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014168:Transferrin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000032:analysis; D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D014168:Transferrin; C056759:carbohydrate-deficient transferrin; D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000410:Alanine Transaminase