
The characteristics of transferrin variants by carbohydrate‐deficient transferrin tests using capillary zone electrophoresis
Author(s) -
Yoo Gilsung,
Kim Juwon,
Yoon Kap Joon,
Lee JongHan
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of clinical laboratory analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.536
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1098-2825
pISSN - 0887-8013
DOI - 10.1002/jcla.22451
Subject(s) - carbohydrate deficient transferrin , transferrin , capillary electrophoresis , cirrhosis , medicine , gastroenterology , alcohol , chemistry , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , alcohol consumption , biochemistry
Background Transferrin is the major plasma transport protein for iron. We aimed to investigate the characteristics of transferrin variant by carbohydrate‐deficient transferrin ( CDT ) test using capillary zone electrophoresis. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the CDT tests of 2449 patients from March 2009 to May 2017 at a tertiary hospital in Korea. CDT was quantified using a Capillarys 2 system (Sebia, Lisses, France) by capillary zone electrophoresis. The characteristics of variant transferrin patterns using electropherogram of CDT tests were analyzed. Results Seventy‐seven (3.1%) patients were classified as variant transferrin. Mean age of these patients was 51.8 years, and the male‐to‐female ratio was 3.5:1. The most common variants were the BC variants (n = 37), followed by the CD variants (n = 27), unclear patterns (n = 7), BD variants (n = 3), CC variants (n = 2), misclassification (n = 1). In the variant Tf group, the most common disease was alcoholic liver cirrhosis (n = 22, 28.6%), followed by the toxic effects of substances (n = 17, 22.1%), and mental and behavioral disorders attributable to alcohol (n = 11, 14.3%). Nonvariant group showed a predominance of the toxic substance effects (n = 880, 37.1%), a personal history of suicide attempts (n = 634, 26.7%), and mental and behavioral disorders due to alcohol (n = 336, 14.2%). Conclusion We analyzed the basic characteristics of variant transferrin by CDT tests using capillary zone electrophoresis. The prevalence of variant transferrin was 3.1% of the study subjects. Male patients, alcohol abusers, and liver cirrhosis patients predominated in the variant transferrin population. Further prospective studies are warranted to elucidate variant transferrin in clinical practice.