Levels of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin according to gender and age in a small town in Hungary

Abstract

Abbreviations ALT = alanine aminotransferase; AST = aspartate aminotransferase; CDT = carbohydrate-deficient transferrin; GGT = gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase; HPLC = high performance liquid chromatography; MCV = mean corpuscular volume The estimated amounts of alcohol consumed regularly are data recorded on the basis of patients' self-report at history-taking. In many instances, however, patients do not genuinely inform their physician on the extent of their alcohol consumption, and in some cases they simply conceal it. In such cases determination of the amount of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) can be helpful. Objective: To determine the levels of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin in a healthy population. Methods: The authors performed examinations among inhabitants of a small Hungarian town (Enese). Data of 409 individuals (average age: 49.7 years) have been processed. They included 204 men (average age: 49.3 years) and 205 women (average age: 50.3 years). Subjects were divided into two groups: 1) those who consumed no alcohol or only small quantities (< 40 g/day) and 2) the so-called social drinkers who consumed an amount corresponding to 40 to 60 g alcohol/day. Levels of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin were measured by immune turbidimetry with an automated instrument Hitachi 912 (Roche USA).Results: In persons consuming no or only small quantities of alcohol, the levels of CDT rise gradually with the increasing age. In the age group between 45 and 65 years the values are significantly higher than in people under 25 years of age. In the younger age group under 45 years, women were found to have significantly higher levels than men. In the social drinkers (beverage consumption corresponding to 40 to 60 g alcohol/day) the values were higher in all cases as compared to those in the non-consuming group, and in the age group between 45 and 65 years the levels were significantly higher than in the younger age group. Of them, men had significantly higher values as compared to women. Conclusion: CDT levels show a moderate rise with the age, and social drinking increases the values as well.

Sustained heavy ethanol drinking affects CD4&lt;sup&gt;+&lt;/sup&gt; cell counts in HIV-infected patients on stavudine (d4T), lamivudine (3TC) and nevirapine (NVP) treatment regimen during 9 months follow-up period

“…Effect of chronic alcohol consumption on mean CD4 + cell counts in the HIV-infected patients on d4T/3TC/NVP drug regimen for chronic alcohol-use self-reporting WHO AUDIT tool group and chronic alcohol-use biomarkers group during the 9 months follow-up period. [11,[13][14][15][16][17]. Also the reduced CD4 + cell count in the chronic alcohol use may also be due to the high affinity of the HIV virus to the C-C chemokine receptor type 5 (CCR5) and C-X-C chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) receptors found on the CD4 + cells to which the virus attach, enter the cell and replicate in them hence destroying the cells leading to a reduction in their numbers.…”

“…In the body, especially in the liver and the gastrointestinal tract (GIT), ethanol is broken down by a number of metabolizing enzyme systems by both the oxidative and non-oxidative pathways to generate a number of potentially harmful byproducts which causes deleterious effects to the body tissues and organs [11,12]. The byproducts of ethanol metabolism such as acetaldehyde, acetate, reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as hydroxyl radicals, superoxide anion and hydroxyl radicals and fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs) can disorganize the physiological body functions of various tissues, organs such as the liver, haemopoietic, haemostatic systems as well as the immune system resulting in increased or reduced levels of the immune biological markers depending on the metabolic pathway involved [13][14][15][16][17]. The byproducts of the alcohol metabolism can affect the bone marrow and the lymphoid system thus affecting the immune blood cells function [13,[18][19][20].…”

Effect of chronic alcohol consumption on the red blood cell count and RBC indices in the HIV infected patients on d4T/3TC/NVP drug regimen in Uganda

“…26,[37][38][39] Alcohol consumption affects the mean MCV values and it is the reason as to why it is used as an alcohol-use biomarker. [40][41][42] The high values of the MCH in the chronic alcohol consumption groups could have been due to the effect of alcohol in the vacuolization of the bone marrow cells and thus suppressing the process of hemopoiesis leading to incomplete production of red blood cells; causing a defect in RBC maturation that leads to macrocytosis (RBC enlargement) and increased Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV) as well as an elevated MCH. [23][24][25][26]30 Therefore in this study, alcohol consumption affects the MCH values in the HIV infected patients on d4T/3TC/NVP drug regimen.…”