Background and study
aim:
Liver enzymes are important markers for
hepatocyte damage.
Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a combination of metabolic
abnormalities including high
blood glucose,
obesity,
hypertension and
dyslipidemia. The
incidence of MS is believed to be increasing in
Egypt. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between elevated
liver enzymes and MS among Egyptian
adults.
Patients and
Methods:
A total 138 apparently
healthy subjects were randomly included (99
females and 39
males). Demographic, clinical (
blood pressure,
body mass index and
waist circumference) and biochemical (measurements of
alanine aminotransferase (ALT),
aspartate amino-
transferase (AST),
alkaline phosphatase (ALP),
lipid profile,
blood glucose and viral markers) were collected from every subject.
Metabolic syndrome was defined according to a well-known criteria and subjects in the final
analysis were divided into group I;
metabolic syndrome and group II; non-
metabolic syndrome subjects.
Results:
In this study, 92
persons fulfilled three of the five criteria of
metabolic syndrome (group I) with
prevalence of 66.7% while group II (non-
metabolic syndrome) represented 33.3%.
Patients with MS were older and less physically active in comparison with group II. There were an
association between elevations in
liver enzymes (ALT, AST, ALP) and MS. ALT, AST and ALP were elevated in 42.4%, 17.2% and 20.7% of
patients with MS respectively. ALT and AST showed positive correlation with elevated
blood glucose and
triglycerides levels while AST/ALT ratio showed negative correlation with diastolic
blood pressure,
triglycerides level and
waist circumference. The more items of MS the
patient have the higher the level of
liver enzymes.
Conclusion:
Among Egyptian
adults elevated levels of
liver enzymes were associated with MS and a correlation was noticed with its components