Korean J Gastroenterol.  2014 Oct;64(4):213-223. 10.4166/kjg.2014.64.4.213.

Detailed Distribution of Liver Enzymes according to Gender, Age, and Body Mass Index in Health Check-up Subjects

• Choi SH
• Yang JI
• Lee C
• Byun HJ
• Kang JM
• Kim SY
• Yim JY

• KMID: 1979206
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4166/kjg.2014.64.4.213

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS
The aim of this study was to examine the distribution of range of liver enzymes according to age and BMI in each gender using large-scale data.
METHODS
Data were gathered from 65,715 subjects who underwent a routine health check-up and did not have HBsAg and anti-HCV. Boxplot analysis was used to examine the distribution of range of liver enzymes according to age and BMI in each gender. Multivariate linear regression analysis was performed for assessment of the association of liver enzymes with age and BMI, and to determine whether the range of liver enzymes was affected by risk factors for metabolic syndrome in each gender.
RESULTS
ALT, AST, and GGT levels showed significant association with BMI in both male and female after adjusting for age. The range of ALT, AST, and GGT levels varied more widely according to the increase in BMI in males than in females, and this finding was more prominent in younger subjects than in older subjects. All risk factors for metabolic syndrome were shown to affect liver enzyme levels in male subjects. However, although most risk factors for metabolic syndrome affected liver enzyme levels, there might be weak or no effect of fasting hyperglycemia on AST, and low serum HDL-cholesterol level on GGT in female subjects.
CONCLUSIONS
Age, BMI, and other risk factors for metabolic syndrome had a significant effect on the distribution of range of liver enzymes in each gender, even in this study conducted from Korean health checkup subjects.

Keyword

Body mass index; Alanine aminotransferase; Aspartate aminotransferase; Gamma glutamyltranspeptidase; Metabolic syndrome X

MeSH Terms

Alanine Transaminase
Aspartate Aminotransferases
Body Mass Index*
Fasting
Female
Hepatitis B Surface Antigens
Humans
Hyperglycemia
Linear Models
Liver*
Male
Metabolic Syndrome X
Risk Factors
Alanine Transaminase
Aspartate Aminotransferases
Hepatitis B Surface Antigens

Figure

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  Fig. 1. The distribution of range of ALT levels according to age and BMI in male subjects. The range of ALT level varied widely according to the increase in BMI, and this finding was more prominent in younger subjects than in older subjects.

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  Fig. 2. The distribution of range of ALT levels according to age and BMI in female subjects. The range of ALT level varied more widely according to the increase in BMI in males than in females, and this finding was more prominent in younger subjects than in older subjects.

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  Fig. 3. The distribution of range of AST levels according to age and BMI in male subjects. The range of AST level varied widely according to the increase in BMI in male subjects, and this finding was more prominent in younger subjects than in older subjects.

• 

  Fig. 4. The distribution of range of AST levels according to age and BMI in female subjects.

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  Fig. 5. The distribution of range of GGT levels according to age and BMI in male subjects. The range of GGT level varied widely according to the increase in BMI, and this finding was more prominent in younger subjects than in older subjects.

• 

  Fig. 6. The distribution of range of GGT levels according to age and BMI in female subjects. The range of GGT level varied more widely according to the increase in BMI in males than in females, and this finding was more prominent in younger subjects than in older subjects.

Reference

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