Study of serum angiotensin converting enzyme activity in children with acute and chronic liver diseases

ABSTRACT

Serum angiotensin converting enzyme [SACE] was determined beside other biochemical hepatic markers in 34 children with liver disease. They were classified into 3 groups group I consisted of 12 children suffering from acute viral hepatitis, group II consisted of 13 children with compensated bilharzial hepatosplenomegally and group III consisted of 9 children with decompensated bilharzial liver fibrosis. 12 apparently healthy children represented the control group. A significant increase in serum angiotensin converting enzyme activity was observed in all patient groups. This increase was much marked in children of group III with good correlation with other traditional biochemical hepatic markers. We concluded that SACE activity increases in acute and chronic liver disease and could be used as an index of severity of liver impairments especially in chronic liver diseases