Carbohydrate-Deficient Transferrin (CDT) details
What Carbohydrate-Deficient Transferrin (CDT) shows
Transferrin is the protein that carries iron in your blood, and it normally has several sugar chains attached. Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) is a form with fewer sugar chains, and it increases when someone regularly drinks heavily over a period of weeks. This test is used to help assess and monitor alcohol use, for example in medical, workplace or legal settings, or to follow abstinence. A higher result points to sustained heavy drinking, while it usually falls back over a few weeks after stopping. Occasional drinking generally does not raise it. Some rare genetic transferrin variants and certain liver or metabolic conditions can affect the result, so it is interpreted alongside your history and other tests.
Tests that include Carbohydrate-Deficient Transferrin (CDT)
Heavy alcohol use (defined as >4 or 5 beverages per day for two weeks or more) is commonly associated with elevated CDT levels as are certain liver diseases such as primary biliary cirrhosis and chronic active hepatitis and in some patients with genetic D variants of transferrin.
- Transferrin The main protein that transports iron in your blood. Used along with iron and ferritin to evaluate iron deficiency or overload.
- Carbohydrate-Deficient Transferrin (CDT) (%) A marker used to help detect heavy, sustained alcohol use over recent weeks.
- Carbohydrate-Deficient Transferrin (CDT) Measures carbohydrate-deficient transferrin, a blood marker that rises with sustained heavy alcohol use over several weeks.
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