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Measurement of direct ethanol metabolites in a case of a former driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol offender, now claiming abstinence

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Abstract

A 37-year-old female subject had been convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol, and 19 months later, claimed abstinence after supervised disulfiram treatment. Our aim was to elucidate the value of direct ethanol metabolites as measures of abstinence. Ethyl glucuronide (EtG) and fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE) in hair, phosphatidylethanol in whole blood and EtG and ethyl sulphate in urine were measured. The results were compared with self-report of alcohol consumption and traditional blood biomarkers for chronically elevated alcohol consumption as carbohydrate deficient transferrin (CDT), gamma glutamyl transpeptidase, mean corpuscular erythrocyte volume, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase. EtG was found in distal parts of hair only, whereas the proximal parts were negative. Furthermore, FAEE concentrations were found in the typical distribution over the hair length and showed values typical for either moderate social drinking or abstinence. CDT was above cut-off in 9 out of 16 analyses with a decreasing tendency and the lowest values in the last 2 months before the end of sampling. The data suggest that in addition to traditional markers, a combination of direct ethanol metabolites can be useful in the expert assessment of judging driving ability. A careful individual interpretation of the results for the different markers, however, is an absolute necessity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychiatric University Hospital, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Friedrich M. Wurst & Gerhard A. Wiesbeck

  2. Laboratoire National de Santé, Toxicologie, Université du Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Luxembourg

    Michel Yegles

  3. Department of Medical Neurochemistry, Lund, Sweden

    Christer Alling & Steina Aradottir

  4. Institute of Clinical Chemistry, Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany

    Jutta Dierkes

  5. Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital Freiburg, Albertstr. 9, 79104, Freiburg, Germany

    Claudia C. Halter & Volker Auwaerter

  6. Institute of Legal Medicine, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany

    Fritz Pragst

  7. Christian-Doppler-Clinic, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria

    Friedrich M. Wurst

Authors
  1. Friedrich M. Wurst
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  2. Michel Yegles
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  3. Christer Alling
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  4. Steina Aradottir
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  5. Jutta Dierkes
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  6. Gerhard A. Wiesbeck
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  7. Claudia C. Halter
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  8. Fritz Pragst
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  9. Volker Auwaerter
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Volker Auwaerter.

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Wurst, F.M., Yegles, M., Alling, C. et al. Measurement of direct ethanol metabolites in a case of a former driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol offender, now claiming abstinence. Int J Legal Med 122, 235–239 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-007-0218-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-007-0218-y

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