Serum gamma-glutamyl transferase level and diabetes mellitus among US adults

Abstract

Serum gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), a marker of oxidative stress, has been shown to be associated with diabetes mellitus in some population-based studies, but not all. Also, it is not clear if there is a continuous dose-response relationship in this association, or if this association is evident only beyond a particular threshold level of GGT. We examined the association between serum GGT and diabetes mellitus in a representative sample of US adults aged > or = 20 years, in a cross-sectional study involving 7,976 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2002 participants. Diabetes mellitus was defined as a fasting glucose > or = 126 mg/dl, nonfasting glucose > or = 200 mg/dl, or use of oral hypoglycemic medication or insulin (n = 805). Higher serum GGT levels were positively associated with diabetes mellitus, independent of, alcohol consumption, body mass index, hypertension and other confounders. Multivariable odds ratio (95% confidence interval) comparing quartile 4 of GGT (>33 U/L) to quartile 1 (<15 U/L) was 2.33 (1.59-3.41), P-trend < 0.0001. This association persisted in separate analysis among men and women. In nonparametric models, the positive association between serum GGT and diabetes appeared to be present across the full range of GGT, without any threshold effect. Higher serum GGT levels are positively associated with diabetes mellitus.

Serum gamma-glutamyl transferase is associated with the elevated uric acid levels in normotensive Chinese adults

“…In good agreement with data of Framingham Offspring Study [2], Kaushik et al reported that serum GGT markedly correlated with body weight and BMI in obese children with diabetic mother [18]. Lee et al showed that there was an increase in hazard ratios of incident diabetes for people with higher serum GGT concentrations after a 15-year of follow-up [32], which was consistent with a survey conducted by Sabanagam et al [33]. Likewise, a study from Iran found that serum GGT was a predictor of diabetes for the first-degree relatives of diabetes [34].…”

Change in the fatty acid pattern of erythrocyte membrane phospholipids after oral supplementation of specific fatty acids in patients with gastrointestinal diseases

“…A study by Hull et al (1997) showed that children with CF and pulmonary inflammation had higher GGT activity and lipid peroxide concentrations and lower glutathione concentrations in bronchiolar lavage fluid than did CF patients without inflammation or non-CF control subjects. Recently, increased serum GGT activity has been associated with development of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease (Emdin et al, 2005;Meisinger et al, 2006;Shankar et al, 2008) and their risk factors, including diabetes (André et al, 2006), hypertension (Sabanayagam et al, 2009), dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome (Rantala et al, 2000;Lee et al, 2007).…”

Liver-Specific Overexpression of Gamma-Glutamyltransferase Ameliorates Insulin Sensitivity of Male C57BL/6 Mice

“…Recently, several prospective studies and meta-analyses suggested that gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), a previously recognized marker of alcoholic drinking and fatty liver, could predict the risk of T2D [1–3]. Such an association existed even when GGT was at physiologic level [4], in nonalcoholic drinkers and subjects without nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) [5, 6]. One study suggested that BMI could predict T2D only when GGT was at physiologic high levels [7].…”