[Studies on the relationship between purified alpha class glutathione S-transferase (GST-alpha) and hepatocellular damage].
Using our ELISA kit for GST-alpha, we tested the serum GST-alpha levels of patients with hepatitis A, acute hepatitis B (HB), chronic active HB, chronic persistent HB and liver cirrhosis. Serum GST-alpha levels in all these groups of patients were significantly higher than those in the controls (P < 0.01). Serum GST-alpha levels was closely (P < 0.01) correlated with serum alanine transaminase (ALT) levels in various groups of patients except chronic persistant HB. The combined application of the two markers, GST-alpha and ALT, raised the sensitivity of detection for liver diseases. In detection of chronic persistent HB patients, the GST-alpha marker was more sensitive than ALT (P < 0.01). The follow-up data of GST-alpha and ALT markers in serum showed that the GST-alpha level could reflect the clinical progression of liver disease more exactly as observed in 79 liver cancer patients in then GST-alpha and ALT positive rate were 81% and 61% respectively (P < 0.01). In 30 persons with positive HBsAg, the positive rates of GST-alpha and ALT were 70% and 37%, respectively. These results indicated that, (1) the detection of GST-alpha combined with ALT was capable of increasing the sensitivity for recognizing hepatocellular damage; (2) the elevation of serum GST-alpha level mainly resulted from the increased expression of GST-alpha in liver cells during hepatocarcinogenesis, thus, the GST-alpha is thought to be a tumor marker for liver cancer; (3) GST-alpha measurement offers advantage over ALT for the detection of minor degree of hepatocellular damages. GST-alpha may act as an early, sensitive and specific enzyme marker.
Ren
H
H
Institute of Basic Medical Science, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing 100850.
Li
C
C
Tan
Z
Z
Wang
Y
Y
Chen
X
X
Zhou
H
H
D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000201:enzymology; D006801:Humans; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D008099:Liver / Q000201:enzymology*; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000201:enzymology*; D008297:Male
D007527:Isoenzymes; D005982:Glutathione Transferase; C119995:glutathione S-transferase alpha; D000410:Alanine Transaminase