Serum paraoxonase and arylesterase activities in Iranian patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

BackgroundThe aim of the study was to investigate paraoxonase-1 (PON1) and aryl esterase (ARE) activities in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).Materials and methodsThis case–control study was done on 83 subjects with confirmed NAFLD (50 male, 33 female, age; 40.46 ± 12.13 years) and 138 healthy individuals (75 male, 63 female; age; 40.94 ± 14.50 years). PON1, salt-stimulated PON1 and ARE activities were determined using paraoxon and phenyl acetate as substrate, respectively.ResultsThe levels of PON1 activities in NAFLD and healthy individuals were 90.83 ± 63.65 IU/L and 79.41 ± 68.14 IU/L, respectively. There was no significant differences regarding PON1 activity between NAFLD and healthy subjects (p = 0.229). While, ARE activity was significantly higher in NAFLD (83.34 ± 28.36 KU/L) than in normal subjects (64.06 ± 27.49 KU/L) (p < 0.001).ConclusionsOur results showed that PON1 activity is not a promising biomarker for the evaluation of NAFLD while arylesterase may have, but further studies in larger samples with different ethnic groups are required to validate our findings.

► We investigated serum paraoxonase and arylesterase activities in NAFLD. ► No significant difference was found between the groups regarding paraoxonase activity. ► Arylesterase activity was significantly higher in NAFLD than normal subjects.