CONCENTRATIONS OF CARBOHYDRATE-DEFICIENT TRANSFERRIN IN DIALYSED PLASMA FROM DRUNKEN DRIVERS

Serum carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) has previouslybeen found to be a sensitive and specific biological markerof excessive alcohol consumption. In order to study the prevalenceof excessive drinking among arrested drunken drivers, CDT wasmeasured in plasma samples from 50 drunken drivers after dialysisagainst 0.9% NaCl. 60% of the drivers had elevated CDT. Whendata on CDT from other studies were used to interpret our CDTresults, it was estimated that at least 60% of the drunken driverswere consuming at least 50 g pure alcohol per day. Drunken driversinvolved in road traffic accidents tended to have higher CDTvalues than other drunken drivers, indicating a higher alcoholconsumption, while drivers below 30 years of age had lower CDTvalues than older ones.