[Multicenter study of sialic acid deficient transferrin determined by two chromatographic techniques]

Serum carbohydrate-deficient-transferrin (CDT) was measured by a micro anion-exchange chromatography/enzyme immunoassay. Results obtained on 245 sera analyzed in four laboratories were compared. Moreover, one laboratory used a commercial kit with ready-to-use microcolumns and a radioimmunoassay for measuring eluted CDT. Imprecision was judged to be satisfactory. Within-assay coefficients of variation ranged from 5 to 10%, between-assay coefficients of variation ranged from 9 to 18%. Between-laboratory results were compared for 110 sera from control subjects (daily alcohol intake < 40 g), for 57 sera from chronic ethylic subjects and for 78 sera from patients suffering from non-alcoholic liver diseases. There was a large between-laboratory variation, suggesting that the method is difficult to standardize and that results are not transferable. Results of enzyme and radioimmunoassays were compared on 325 sera. The best correlation was obtained in the groups of ethylic subjects and those with non-alcoholic hepatic diseases. Finally the performance of the CDT-test was evaluated by calculating sensitivity and specificity. With both methods specificity was very high (> 85%) but sensitivity was poor (< 50%).