Ornithine carbamyltransferase is a sensitive marker for alcohol-induced liver injury.
BACKGROUND
Although mitochondrion-derived markers such as ornithine carbamyltransferase (OCT) and glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH) have been reported to be good markers for alcohol-induced hepatic injury, their use has been limited due to the notion that mitochondrial markers are less sensitive than cytosol-derived markers. We determined the clinical importance of mitochondrion-derived markers in the evaluation of alcohol-induced hepatotoxicity.


METHODS
Rats were administered alcohol chronically (5-30% ethanol in drinking water with or without high fat diet feeding for 15 weeks) and hepatic damages were evaluated by serum OCT and GLDH, together with other liver enzymes such as alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase. Hepatic content of the enzymes was also evaluated in the chronic ethanol feeding model to confirm whether induction of the enzyme in the liver reflects the serum activity.


RESULTS
The serum activities of OCT and GLDH increased significantly by chronic ethanol feeding while other markers did not. Although the hepatic content of OCT and GLDH also increased, the serum activities did not correlate with the hepatic activities and the extent of increase in the liver was much less than in serum.


CONCLUSIONS
Mitochondrion-derived markers, especially OCT, appeared superior to cytosol-derived markers in the detection of alcohol-induced liver injury.
Murayama
Hiroshi
H
Diagnostics Department, Yamasa Corp, Choshi, Chiba, Japan. murayama@yamasa.com
Ikemoto
Masaki
M
Hamaoki
Masaru
M
D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D000818:Animals; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000097:blood; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D000431:Ethanol / Q000633:toxicity; D005969:Glutamate Dehydrogenase / Q000097:blood; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D008108:Liver Diseases, Alcoholic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000201:enzymology; D009954:Ornithine Carbamoyltransferase / Q000097:blood*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism
D015415:Biomarkers; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D000431:Ethanol; D005969:Glutamate Dehydrogenase; D009954:Ornithine Carbamoyltransferase; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000410:Alanine Transaminase