title: Monitoring population levels of alcohol consumption in pregnant women: a case for using biomarkers.
abstract: A challenge to biochemically monitoring alcohol consumption in pregnancy is the prohibitive costs of collecting thousands of blood samples. This pilot study looks at the feasibility of using residual samples to monitor chronic and acute alcohol consumption in pregnancy. Residual anomalies screening samples (n = 150, 2006/7) were tested for carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT, chronic marker) and ethyl glucuronide (EtG, acute marker). Valid readings were obtained for CDT but not EtG. These results pave the way for a larger representative study, to provide, for the first time, a national biochemical baseline estimate of chronic alcohol consumption in the pregnant population.
authors.affiliation: Paediatric Epidemiology and Community Health Unit, Department of Child Health, Division of Developmental Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom. Deborah.shipton@glasgow.gov.uk
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shipton
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tappin
authors.forename: Roy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sherwood
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mactier
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Aitken
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Crossley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005965:Glucuronates / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D011247:Pregnancy; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods*; D014168:Transferrin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D005965:Glucuronates; D014168:Transferrin; C056759:carbohydrate-deficient transferrin; C093924:ethyl glucuronide