Metabolic Syndrome and Serum Liver Enzymes in the General Chinese Population

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the associations between alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) with metabolic syndrome (MetS) in the general Chinese population. Methods: This study was a multicenter, cross-sectional study which was conducted in rural areas of China from the 2012 to 2013 Northeast China Rural Cardiovascular Health Study (NCRCHS), and 11,573 adults with complete data were included in our final analysis. Elevated ALT and AST levels were defined as >40 U/L. Serum ALT and AST levels within the reference range were divided into quartiles, and their associations with MetS were evaluated by logistic regressions. Results: A total of 7.4% and 3.5% participants had elevated serum ALT and AST levels, respectively. The prevalence of MetS was 37.3% in males and 45.8% in females. After adjusting for potential confounders, we found ALT level elevation, even within the reference range, was independently associated with MetS. The odds ratio (OR) values of MetS in the ALT quartiles 2-4 groups within the reference range were 1.113 (95% CI: 1.019-1.280), 1.375 (95% CI: 1.212-1.560), 1.878 (95% CI: 1.650-2.138) compared with the ALT quartile 1 group, and OR in the elevated ALT group was 3.020 (95% CI: 2.496-3.653). Positive relationship for MetS was also observed in elevated AST group (OR: 1.689, 95% CI: 1.314-2.171), but within the reference range, the AST level was not associated with MetS. Conclusions: Serum ALT level, even within the reference range, was significantly associated with MetS. However, only elevated AST levels above 40 U/L was positively associated with MetS. Within the reference range, we did not find a relationship between AST levels and MetS.

After successful hepatitis C virus antiviral therapy: It looks that normal alanine aminotransferase level is not the normal

“…Although ALT is supposed to be very specific to liver disease and is related to liver fat accumulation, obesity as a factor showed no statistical significance on the level of ALT. This was different from a study carried by Shuang Chen and his colleagues who found that ALT level elevation was independently associated with metabolic syndrome. The same study did show a significant elevation in the level of AST with obesity but not as strong as in ALT.…”

“…This was achieved by a cutoff value of 26.4 IU/L after treatment in the studied group of patients showing a sensitivity of 78.6%, a specificity of 83.8%, and the area under ROC curve (AUROC) of 0.89. Similar results for ALT values were obtained on a cutoff value of 20 IU/L in a study carried out for diagnosing metabolic syndrome with sensitivity of 76.8% and specificity of 81.4% . Then we divided the patients with diseased liver into cirrhosis and advanced fibrosis/cirrhosis.…”

Daily intake of heat-killed Lactobacillus plantarum L-137 improves inflammation and lipid metabolism in overweight healthy adults: a randomized-controlled trial

“…To our knowledge, this is the first study to show that intake of lactobacilli can reduce AST and ALT levels in healthy human subjects. It has been reported that slight elevation of serum ALT, even within the normal range, can predict a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and coronary heart disease [44][45][46][47]. While the reduction of AST and ALT by HK L-137 was within the normal range in this study, these reports suggest that lowering serum ALT within the normal range may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and coronary heart disease.…”

Índice AST/ALT menor a 1 y riesgo de presentar síndrome metabólico en pacientes hospitalizados

“…La mediana de las AST y ALT séricas fue de 20 U/l (14-30) y de 16 U/l (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26), respectivamente. Referente a la lactato deshidrogenasa, se calculó una mediana de 194 U/l (162-225.2).…”

“…Entre las alteraciones de la función hepática se encuentran las que involucran a las aminotransferasas (aspartato aminotransferasa [AST], alanina aminotransferasa [ALT]), que en la esteatosis hepática no alcohólica presentan elevaciones menores a 120 U/l 15,16 . Además, otros estudios han observado la diferencia existente entre las transaminasas de pacientes con síndrome metabólico y personas sanas, donde son mayores las cantidades séricas en pacientes con dicho síndrome (ALT: 25-31 vs. 20-22 U/l; AST: 22-30 vs. 22-26 U/l; gamma-glutamil transferasa (GGT): 52 vs. 25 U/l; fosfatasa alcalina: 89 vs. 80 U/l) con valores de p < 0.01 17,18 , además de tener mayor riesgo de presentar síndrome metabólico en pacientes con transaminasas elevadas (ALT hasta una odds ratio [OR]: 10.1; intervalo de confianza (IC) 95%: 8.57-12.0) 17 .…”