Increased carbohydrate deficient transferrin (CDT) is an indication of regular heavy alcohol consumption which can now be detected using capillary electrophoresis
Human transferrin is an iron transporting glycoprotein comprising several isoforms, each of which displays a different mobility during electrophoresis depending on its sialic acid content.
Regular alcohol consumption of more than 50-80g per day alters the isoform distribution from the normal pattern occurring in a healthy individual.
The serum level of CDT decreases in line with decreased alcohol consumption, so provides meaningful monitoring of patient abstinence or relapse during the preceding two weeks.
The fully automatic method for clear detection of the CDT isoforms now available on Capillarys has several advantages over current time consuming methods, which are not suitable for routine analysis, says Analytical Technologies.
Primary tube sampling with positive sample identification gives Capillarys a high throughput of 38 samples per hour, with minimal operator time, with powerful software to process the results.
To take account of the physiopathological variations of the transferrin, results are expressed in percentage of the total transferrin concentration rather than an absolute number.
As the introduction of the CDT test on Capillarys makes it quicker and more convenient, medical testing for professions such as aviation are expected to lead an expanding market for the test.
