Early elevated serum gamma glutamyl transpeptidase after liver transplantation is associated with better survival

Edris M Alkozai,Maarten W Nijsten,Robert J Porte,Ton Lisman

doi:10.12688/f1000research.3316.2

Abstract

Early elevated serum gamma glutamyl transpeptidase after liver transplantation is associated with better survival

Highlights

Gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) is a membrane-bound enzyme that is essential for the synthesis of glutathione (GSH), a key antioxidant[1]
After excluding pediatric liver transplantation (LT), patients who were re-transplanted within the 90 days of their first LT (n=39), second or subsequent LTs (n=101), patients with a lack of follow up data (n=11), and patients that died intraoperatively (n=5) due to brain death, cardiac failure, or uncontrollable bleeding, 522 patients were included in our analyses
In this study, we evaluated the changes in GGT over time following liver transplantation and the clinical relevance of these changes for early and late survival

Summary

Introduction

Gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) is a membrane-bound enzyme that is essential for the synthesis of glutathione (GSH), a key antioxidant[1]. Several epidemiological studies have shown that a higher serum GGT level, even within the normal range, is associated with cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus and stroke, as well as certain types of cancer[2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10] In contrast to these studies, we observed that after surgery for ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm[11] or after liver resection[12], GGT is transiently increased in patients who had a good outcome. Immediate postoperative elevation of GGT may indicate a physiological systemic response while chronic elevation reflects a pathological response

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