The diagnostic value of a hepatoma‐specific band of serum gamma‐glutamyl transferase

Abstract

Using a vertical slab electrophoretic apparatus loaded with polyacrylamide stage gel plate, we observed a total of II bands of gamma-glutamyl transferase (EC 2.3.2.2,GGT) on a gel plate and designated these GGT I-XI by order of distance beginning at the positive pole. Positive GGT II was found in 81 (90%) of 90 cases of primary hepatic carcinoma (PHC), in 9(90%) of 10 cases of secondary hepatic carcinoma (SHC), and in only 4 (3.1%) of a total of 128 cases of acute and chronic liver disease. There was one case with positive GGT II among 45 cases of cancer of ampulla of Vater, but the possibility of hepatic metastasis could not be excluded. No GGT II was found in a total of 250 healthy persons and 21 pregnant women. PHC patients with negative alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) had a positive GGT II rate of 84.6%, whereas in those with negative GGT II the positive rate for AFP was only 44.4%.

Diagnostic value of protein induced by vitamin K absence (PIVKAII) and hepatoma-specific band of serum gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGTII) as hepatocellular carcinoma markers complementary to α-fetoprotein

“…Kuromatsu and Okuda also detected no obvious correlation between AFP and PIVKAII measured by the revised EIA kit in their HCC patients (Kuromatsu et al, 1997;Okuda et al, 1999). The sensitivity of GGTII in patients without increased AFP was about 62%, which was less than that in Xu et al's (1985) report (84.6%). All papers about GGT in the HCC diagnosis report no apparent correlation between AFP and GGTII, consistent with the results of this study.…”

“…Other researchers used polyacrylamide gel gradient electrophoresis to fractionate one to three bands of GGT specific for hepatoma with a positivity rate of only 27 -63% (Hetland et al, 1975;Kojima et al, 1980;Sawabu et al, 1983;Kew et al, 1984). In 1985, Xu reported that they had fractionated nine to 11 activity bands of GGT adopting the method of vertical slab stage electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gel (Xu et al, 1985), in which GGTII was found in the sera of all patients with hepatoma. The positive rate of GGT was 90% and no correlation was observed with AFP.…”

“…GGT activity assay was carried out on a vertical slab stage polyacrylamide gel as described by Xu et al (1985). In brief, there are three layers of separation gels: 15, 10, and 7.5% from the bottom upward.…”

“…Since then, other methods have been used, that is, separation of GGT bands by means of starch gel (Orlowski and Szczeklik, 1967), cellulose acetate (Hitoi et al, 1984), agarose gel (Hetland et al, 1975), polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (Kojima et al, 1980;Suzuki et al, 1981;Sawabu et al, 1983;Kew et al, 1984), and polyacrylamide stage gel plate (Xu et al, 1985). The polyacrylamide stage gel plate method allows detecting positivity up to 90% in hepatoma patients (Xu et al, 1985).…”

Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma by Quantitative Detection of Hepatoma-Specific Bands of Serum γ-Glutamyltransferase

“…[15][16][17][18] However, the HSBs in previous studies were observed qualitatively only after gel electrophoresis separation, and the alteration of HSB concentration in different liver diseases remained unclear. The primary objective of the current study, therefore, was to establish a quantitative method of HSB activity of serum GGT in patients with liver diseases.…”