title: Abstinence monitoring of suspected drinking drivers: ethyl glucuronide in hair versus CDT.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Ethyl glucuronide (EtG) determinations in the hair of self-reported teetotalers were reviewed and compared with carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) blood tests (by immunochemistry and high-performance liquid chromatography [HPLC]).
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective study was carried out on 154 people whose fitness to drive had to be assessed because of the suspicion of relevant alcohol problems.
  
  
  RESULTS
  EtG was detected in 55 percent of the hair samples and abstinence thus disproved. In two thirds (67%) of these cases, alcohol consumption was even shown to be excessive (EtG values > 30 pg/mg). Of the EtG-positive subjects 54 and 82 percent had CDT values within the reference range by immunochemistry and HPLC, respectively. Thirty-nine percent of the EtG-negative subjects had increased immunochemical CDT values; in contrast, 96 percent had HPLC CDT values within the normal range.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  EtG analysis in hair is a useful tool for assessing fitness to drive in suspected drinking drivers; compared to CDT values it provides a direct and unequivocal marker for reliable abstinence monitoring over a period of several months, depending on the length of the hair.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Rechtsmedizin, Verkehrsmedizin & Klinische Forensik, Universität Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland. bruno.liniger@irm.uzh.ch
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liniger
authors.forename: Ariane
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Friedrich-Koch
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yegles
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D001334:Automobile Driving; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D005260:Female; D005965:Glucuronates / Q000032:analysis*; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D007120:Immunochemistry; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods*; D014168:Transferrin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D005965:Glucuronates; D014168:Transferrin; C056759:carbohydrate-deficient transferrin; C093924:ethyl glucuronide