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Serum Activity of Mitochondrial Aspartate Aminotransferase: A Sensitive Marker of Alcoholism With or Without Alcoholic Hepatitis
Author(s) -
Nalpas Bertrand,
Vassault Anne,
Guillou Alain Le,
Lesgourgues Bruno,
Ferry Nicolas,
Lacour Bernard,
Berthelot Pierre
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
hepatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.488
H-Index - 361
eISSN - 1527-3350
pISSN - 0270-9139
DOI - 10.1002/hep.1840040517
Subject(s) - alcoholic hepatitis , medicine , alcoholic liver disease , hepatitis , aspartate aminotransferases , gastroenterology , alanine transaminase , cirrhosis
Serum activity of the mitochondrial isoenzyme of aspartate aminotransferase (mAST) was measured with an immunological method in 74 subjects. Fourty‐six were chronic alcoholics with (30) or without (16) obvious alcoholic liver disease; 28 were nonalcoholic controls among whom 14 had acute or chronic viral hepatitis, the remaining 14 being healthy individuals. Mean mAST activity was much higher in all the alcoholic subjects, with or without liver disease, 10.4 and 1.95 units per liter, respectively, than in the healthy controls (0.43, p < 0.001). The mean mAST to total AST ratio was similar in the healthy controls and in the patients with viral hepatitis (2.98 and 3.19%, NS), whereas it was about 4 times higher in the alcoholics with a sensitivity which reached 93% in the patients with alcoholic liver disease and 100% in those without. Both ‐γ‐glutamyl transpeptidase and glutamate dehydrogenase serum activities were far less sensitive and specific. As almost all chronic alcoholics had similar abnormal values of mAST/total AST ratio, this leads to question whether “normal” liver may really exist in any of such subjects.