Serum gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase assay in the detection of alcohol consumers and in the early and stadial diagnosis of alcoholic liver disease.

Gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGTP) assay, clinical and morphologic investigations were performed in three groups of subjects: 1) 128 healthy subjects, exposed to high alcoholic risk; b) 97 chronic alcohol consumers, hospitalized; c) 87 patients with alcoholic liver disease (ALD) morphologically confirmed. The GGTP assay was positive in 80% of the drinkers; the values varying according to the amount and the duration of alcohol consumption. The correlation index between the GGTP values and the morphologic aspects was 0.51 for chronic drinkers with ALD. The positivity degree of this test and the anatomo-clinical aspects of liver injury were well correlated, maximum values corresponding with severe liver damage. Our results show the value of GGTP assay in the detection of chronic alcoholics and of ALD.

The hepatic component in alcoholic encephalopathy.

In a group of 34 chronic alcohol addicts with neuropsychic manifestations--alcoholic encephalopathy (AE)--and 9 subjects with chronic non-alcoholic liver diseases, biochemical (ammonemia, pyruvicemia, lactacidemia), enzymatic (gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (gamma-GPT)) and morphological assays were carried out comparatively with conventional liver investigations. Alcoholic liver disease was found present in 16 patients (47%). A peculiar biochemical profile was observed in subjects with hepato-alcoholic encephalopathy: ammonemia 191.3 +/- 70.3 gamma %, pyruvicemia 2.7 +/- 0.82 mg %, lactacidemia 15.76 mg % and gamma-GPT 80.5 U/l, as compared with ammonemia 121 +/- 33.5 gamma %, pyruvicemia 2.74 +/- 1.2 mg %, lactacidemia 16.65 mg % and gamma-GPT 42.6 U/l in AE without hepatic disease, and in non-alcoholic liver diseases in which ammonemia was 88.6 gamma % (in chronic hepatitis) and 126.3 gamma % (in hepatic cirrhosis). Thus, coexisting involvement of the liver and presence of portal-systemic shunts in AE can be estimated by the assay of certain biochemical and enzymatic parameters.