False positive carbohydrate-deficient transferrin results in chronic hemodialysis patients related to the analytical methodology.
OBJECTIVE
Chronic kidney disease stage V is associated with a metabolic acidosis, a disturbance also observed in heavy alcohol consumption. Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin is considered the most accurate biomarker for identifying chronic alcohol abuse. We tested whether increased CDT results occurred in patients on dialysis therapy.


METHODS
One hundred twenty-two samples from HD patients were analyzed by three different analytical methods and the results were compared with those obtained in 48 healthy volunteers.


RESULTS
On the basis of the upper 97.5th percentile, positive CDT results were found in 25.4%, 9.8% and 12.3% of the HD patients with particle-enhanced immunonephelometry, capillary electrophoresis and HPLC, respectively. A significant correlation between CDT values and transferrin concentration was found for the particle-enhanced immunonephelometric test (r: -0.311; p: 0.0009).


CONCLUSIONS
A high rate of positive CDT results was observed in HD patients with the particle-enhanced immunonephelometry and seems to be related to the low transferrin concentration.
Wolff
Fleur
F
Laboratory of Clinical Chemistry, Brugmann University Hospital, Brussels, Belgium. fleur.wolff@chu-brugmann.be
Mesquita
Maria
M
Corazza
Francis
F
Demulder
Anne
A
Willems
Dominique
D
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002623:Chemistry Techniques, Analytical / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D019075:Electrophoresis, Capillary; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008722:Methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D009391:Nephelometry and Turbidimetry; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D014168:Transferrin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000032:analysis; D055815:Young Adult
D015415:Biomarkers; D014168:Transferrin; C056759:carbohydrate-deficient transferrin