Usefulness of redox tolerance test in evaluating fatty liver.
OBJECTIVE
In living-related liver transplantation, fatty liver should be exactly detected in the healthy donor with noninvasive measurement before the surgery. The study aimed to investigate the usefulness of redox tolerance test in diagnosing fatty liver.


METHODS
The subjects were 32 patients who underwent an abdominal surgery. They did not show any abnormal values in biochemical evaluations, nor had they diabetes. Under informed consent, liver specimens were obtained intraoperatively, and the subjects were divided into three groups according to the degree of hepatic fatty deposit: group A has fatty deposits at less than 10% of hepatocytes (n = 12), group B showed the deposits at 10-30% (n = 10), group C has the deposits of more than 30% (n = 10). Before the surgery, redox tolerance test was performed as follows; arterial blood samples were obtained successively at 75 g oral glucose load over a 120-min period, and the arterial ketone body ratio and blood glucose level were determined. The ratio of increased arterial ketone body ratio (AKBR) to increased blood glucose (BG) level (100 x delta AKBR/delta BG) was calculated as redox tolerance index.


RESULTS
After fasting state, arterial ketone body ratio and blood glucose level did not differ among the three groups. However, the values of redox tolerance index in groups B (0.73 +/- 0.08) and C (0.46 +/- 0.04) were significantly lower than those in group A (1.85 +/- 0.31).


CONCLUSIONS
The redox tolerance test was exceedingly sensitive indicator for objectively diagnosing the fatty liver.
Totsuka
E
E
Second Department of Surgery, Hirosaki University School of Medicine, 5 Zaifu-cho, Hirosaki, Aomori, 036-8562, Japan. etotsuka@cc.hirosaki-u.ac.jp
Itoh
S
S
Shindo
K
K
Suzuki
K
K
Matsuura
K
K
Nozaki
T
T
Takiguchi
M
M
Narumi
S
S
Hakamada
K
K
Endoh
M
M
Sasaki
M
M
D020155:3-Hydroxybutyric Acid / Q000097:blood; D000090:Acetoacetates / Q000097:blood; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001158:Arteries; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis*; D005215:Fasting; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D006801:Humans; D007657:Ketone Bodies / Q000097:blood*; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008930:Mitochondria, Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction
D000090:Acetoacetates; D001786:Blood Glucose; D007657:Ketone Bodies; C016635:acetoacetic acid; D020155:3-Hydroxybutyric Acid