Alanine aminotransferase and gamma-glutamyl transferase are associated with the metabolic syndrome but not with angiographically determined coronary atherosclerosis

BackgroundRecently, elevated liver enzymes have attracted great interest as potential novel markers of cardiovascular risk. Their association with angiographically determined coronary artery disease (CAD) is unknown.MethodsWe enrolled 1000 consecutive patients undergoing coronary angiography for the evaluation of suspected or established stable CAD. The metabolic syndrome (MetS) was defined according to ATP-III criteria; significant CAD was diagnosed in the presence of coronary stenoses with lumen narrowing ≥ 50%.ResultsSerum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), the ALT/aspartate aminotransferase (AST) ratio, and serum gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) were significantly higher in patients with the MetS than in subjects without the MetS (34 ± 21 vs. 29 ± 20 U/l; p < 0.001, 1.16 ± 0.39 vs. 1.00 ± 0.36 U/l, p < 0.001; and 53 ± 88 vs. 43 ±57 U/l, p = 0.001, respectively) but were similar in patients with significant CAD as in those who did not have significant CAD at angiography (p = 0.592; p = 0.731, and p = 0.716, respectively). Analysis of covariance after multivariate adjustment including alcohol consumption confirmed that ALT, ALT/AST ratio, and GGT were significantly and independently associated with the MetS but not with significant CAD.ConclusionsALT, the ALT/AST ratio, and GGT are associated with the MetS but not with angiographically determined coronary atherosclerosis.