Plasma Alpha-Class GST Measurements in Liver Disease

Plasma Alpha-Class GST Measurements in Liver Disease 

Theoretical Advantages of Plasma GST Measurements for Detecting Hepatocellular Damage 

The standard battery of biochemical tests used to assess liver function usually includes the measurement of the activity in plasma of one of the aminotransferases [either aspartate aminotransferase (AST) or alanine aminotransferase (ALT)]. Such measurements are performed to assess the integrity of the hepatocyte membrane. The measurement of AST provides poor organ specificity due to the ubiquitous nature of the enzyme and both ALT and AST are relatively poor at detecting damage that is occurring to the centrilobular hepatocytes. The inadequacy of the aminotransferases at detecting centrilobular liver damage may be 

Plasma GST Measurements for the Detection OF Acute Liver Damage 

Paracetamol poisoning provides a useful human model to compare the effectiveness of plasma GST with aminotransferase measurements because in such patients there is often a wide spectrum of the severity of liver damage encountered. In addition, damage to the liver initially occurs in the centrilobular hepatocytes, where phase I drug metabolizing enzymes produce the toxic metabolite (J3). 

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Plasma Alpha-Class GST Measurements in Liver Disease. 329... 

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