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The measurement of CDT (Carbohydrate Deficient Transferrin) is an essential biological tool in the diagnosis and follow-up of alcohol abuse. It is also employed as a marker of abstinence for the restitution of driving licences. However, the precision of measurement, and the between laboratory homogeneity of the results are still discussed. The ion exchange followed by immunodetermination of CDT is available in two products, the Tina Quant %CDT (Roche, Mannheim, Germany) and the %CDT TIA (Bio-Rad, Hercules, United States). This multicentre study was undertaken: 1) to evaluate the analytical characteristics of these kits and the homogeneity of the results from one laboratory to another, independently of the method used, 2) to validate the differences between the proposed normal values of both kits, 3) to study the possibility of using commercial control sera as external quality control. Four analytical systems were included in the study (Roche Modular/Hitachi 717, Beckman Coulter Immage and LX20, Dade Behring BNII). Determinations were carried out on pools of sera, commercial control sera, kit controls, and 30 serums of patients. These latter were also analyzed in capillary electrophoresis in order to establish correlations between the techniques. The calibrations were stable over one 2 weeks period. The repeatability of measurements spread out from 3,1% to 24,7%, for a mean value lower than 10%. The commercial control sera provided reliable results, with values adapted to a routine quality control use. The results of the Bio-Rad applications were lower by approximately 20% than those of the Roche application, which justifies the difference of the normal values (2,6% versus 3%), and an identical classification of the patients in at least 27 of the 30 samples. We conclude that the analytical quality of the compared techniques, even if it could be improved, is sufficient to guarantee a good reliability of the results. An external quality control could be proposed by using the control sera that we tested.

A series of enantiomerically pure azasugars (2,5-dideoxy-2, 5-imino-D-mannitol, 1-deoxynojirimycin, 1-deoxymannojirimycin, and related compounds) was synthesized from D-mannitol via aminoheterocyclization of C2-symmetric bis-epoxides and subsequently followed by ring isomerization in few cases. These compounds have been evaluated as inhibitors of several glycosidases (alpha- and beta-D-glucosidases, alpha-D-mannosidase and alpha-L-fucosidase). Inhibition studies indicate notably that the polyhydroxylated azepanes are inhibitors of glycosidases, with Ki in the micromolar range.

Changes were observed in alpha-L-fucosidase forms in cells from acute myelocytic leukemias (AML). Total alpha-L-fucosidase activity was not significantly different for normal granulocytes and leukemic cells, but enzymic profiles obtained by chromatofocusing are quite different. In granulocyte profile, two main peaks are present (B and more acidic A) which were eluted at pH 5.2 with a shoulder at pH 4.6. In AMLs the B form is present but weakly expressed, whereas the more acidic forms are the major ones. This pattern may be related either to the malignancy character or to the stage at which the differentiation is stopped. Experiments on an HL-60 cell line (promyelocytic cells corresponding to the AML 3 type) showed that differentiation induced by dimethyl sulfoxide leads to the appearance of the B form present in normal mature cells. Thus the repartition of the enzyme forms seems to be related to the stage of differentiation of the myelocytic cells.