Abstract
Blood samples for determination of the biochemical alcohol markers carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) in serum, γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT) in serum, and erythrocyte mean corpuscular volume (MCV) were collected once every 1–2 weeks over ∼5 months from 10 female and 4 male teetotalers. Mean values for serum CDT (using the CDTectTM assay) ranged from 9.9 to 29.4 units/L (median, 14.2 units/L), and the highest results were obtained in the women. The mean values for serum GGT ranged from 0.15 to 0.49 μkat/L (median, 0.30 μkat/L, or 18 U/L) except for one woman with a very high mean of 3.07 μkat/L. For MCV, the mean values ranged from 79.5 to 91.5 fL. Two women showed several CDT results above the upper reference limit (mean values, 27.6 and 29.4 units/L, respectively); however, their GGT and MCV values fell within the reference intervals. One of these women exhibited an increased total transferrin concentration (mean value, 5.38 g/L), which was possibly related to the use of oral contraceptives and/or a low serum iron concentration. When the CDTect value was expressed relative to total transferrin, a ratio within the reference interval was observed for this woman but not for the other woman with increased CDTect values. The present study demonstrates a considerable variation between individuals in CDT, GGT, and MCV without drinking any alcohol. The results also show that these baseline values are fairly constant over time within the same individual.
Intra- and interindividual variability of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin, γ-glutamyltransferase, and mean corpuscular volume in teetotalers