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Published:
Journal of Analytical Toxicology,
ISSN 0146-4760,
Volume 26,
Number 1, January/February 2002, pp. 11-16
Preliminary Immunochemical Test for the Determination of
Ethyl Glucuronide in Serum and Urine: Comparison of Screening Method Results
with Gas ChromatographyMass Spectrometry
Holger Zimmer, Georg Schmitt, and Rolf Aderjan
Institute of Legal Medicine and Traffic Medicine, Vosstrasse 2, 69115 Heidelberg,
Germany
Ethyl glucuronide is a highly specific metabolite of ethanol that
is formed by enzymatic conjugation of ethanol with glucuronic acid. Because
of its suitability as a marker of excessive alcohol consumption in serum with
low blood-alcohol concentration and as a consumption marker in serum and urine,
especially after the breakdown of ethanol, demand exists for a simple and fast
analytical procedure, which is rarely possible using mass spectrometric determination
methods. For this reason, we developed an immunochemical screening procedure
(ELISA) in which polyclonal antibodies are bound to the walls of microtiter
plates. To test suitability, 335 authentic serum and 186 urine samples were
examined using immunochemistry and gas chromatographymass spectrometry
(GCMS). The serum (urine) samples with cutoff values of 0.31 mg/L (1.33
mg/L) yielded false-negative results in 9.5% (24.3%) and false positives in
8.4% (23.2%) of cases. Specificity was calculated at 91.6% (76.8%) and sensitivity
at 90.5% (75.7%). Test efficiency was 90.8% (76.3%). The study shows that ethyl
glucuronide and therefore alcohol consumption can be detected in immunochemical
screening of serum in a similar manner as current drugs, but the method is of
limited value for urine. A GCMS confirmation continues to remain a necessity.
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