Faculty Collaboration Database

Ethyl glucuronide in hair and fingernails as a long-term alcohol biomarker. Addiction 2014 Mar;109(3):425-31

Date

02/15/2014

Pubmed ID

24524319

Pubmed Central ID

PMC3927158

DOI

10.1111/add.12402

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-84893832027 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   48 Citations

Abstract

AIMS: This study aimed to evaluate the performance of ethyl glucuronide (EtG) in hair and fingernails as a long-term alcohol biomarker.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey with probability sampling.

SETTING: Midwestern United States.

PARTICIPANTS: Participants were 606 undergraduate college students between the ages of 18 and 25 years at the time of selection for potential study participation.

MEASUREMENTS: EtG concentrations in hair and fingernails were measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry at three thresholds [30 picograms (pg) per milligram (mg); 20 pg/mg; and 8 pg/mg]. Any weekly alcohol use, increasing-risk drinking and high-risk drinking on average during the past 12 weeks was assessed by participant interview using the time-line follow-back method.

FINDINGS: In both hair and fingernails at all three EtG thresholds, sensitivity was greatest for the high-risk drinking group [hair: 0.43, confidence interval (CI)=0.17, 0.69 at 30 pg/mg, 0.71, CI=0.47, 0.95 at 20 pg/mg; 0.93, CI=0.79, 1.00 at 8 pg/mg; fingernails: 1.00, CI=1.00-1.00 at 30, 20 and 8 pg/mg] and specificity was greatest for any alcohol use (hair: 1.00, CI=1.00, 1.00 at 30 and 20 pg/mg; 0.97, CI=0.92-0.99 at 8 pg/mg; fingernails: 1.00, CI=1.00-1.00 at 30, 20 and 8 pg/mg). Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves were significantly higher for EtG concentration in fingernails than hair for any weekly alcohol use (P = 0.02, DeLong test, two-tailed) and increasing-risk drinking (P = 0.02, DeLong test, two-tailed).

CONCLUSIONS: Ethyl glucuronide, especially in fingernails, may have potential as a quantitative indicator of alcohol use.

Author List

Berger L, Fendrich M, Jones J, Fuhrmann D, Plate C, Lewis D

Author

Michael Fendrich PhD Professor in the Emergency Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adolescent
Adult
Alcohol-Related Disorders
Biomarkers
Chromatography, Liquid
Female
Glucuronates
Hair
Humans
Male
Nails
Sensitivity and Specificity
Substance Abuse Detection
Tandem Mass Spectrometry
Young Adult