Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 28, 2015; 21(8): 2419-2424
Published online Feb 28, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i8.2419
Determination of the upper cut-off values of serum alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase in Chinese
Peng Zhang, Chun-Yan Wang, Yu-Xiang Li, Yu Pan, Jun-Qi Niu, Shu-Mei He
Peng Zhang, Yu-Xiang Li, Department of Infectious Disease, the First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130021, Jilin Province, China
Chun-Yan Wang, University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, United States
Yu Pan, Jun-Qi Niu, Department of Hepatopathy, the First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130021, Jilin Province, China
Shu-Mei He, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130021, Jilin Province, China
Author contributions: Zhang P and Pan Y contributed equally to this work; Zhang P, Wang CY and Pan Y designed the research; Zhang P, Wang CY, Li YX, Pan Y, Niu JQ and He SM performed the research; Niu JQ and Pan Y contributed new reagents/analytic tools; Zhang P and Wang CY analyzed the data; and Zhang P and Wang CY, Pan Y wrote the manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Yu Pan, MD, Department of Hepatopathy, the First Hospital, Jilin University, No. 71, Xinmin Street, Changchun 130021, Jilin Province, China. panyu20000@163.com
Telephone: +86-431-88786006 Fax: +86-431-88786006
Received: July 14, 2014
Peer-review started: July 15, 2014
First decision: August 15, 2014
Revised: September 28, 2014
Accepted: November 19, 2014
Article in press: November 19, 2014
Published online: February 28, 2015
Processing time: 228 Days and 23.1 Hours
Abstract

AIM: To determine the upper cut-off values of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in a Northern Chinese population.

METHODS: A total of 3769 subjects in Jilin Province Northeast China were stratified to determine the potential factors affecting serum ALT and AST levels. The upper cut-off values of serum ALT and AST in these subjects were determined using receiver operating characteristic analysis and their sensitivity and specificity were evaluated.

RESULTS: Stratification analysis revealed that serum ALT and AST levels were associated with gender, alcohol consumption, serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and body mass index. The upper cut-off values of serum ALT and AST were 22.15 U/L and 25.35 U/L for healthy men and 22.40 U/L and 24.25 U/L for healthy women, respectively. The new cut-off values had a higher sensitivity, but a slightly lower specificity than the current standards.

CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that the new upper cut-off values of serum ALT and AST are markedly lower than current standards and may be valuable for the evaluation of liver function.

Keywords: Alanine aminotransferase; Aspartate aminotransferase; Upper cut-off value; Northern Chinese population; Serum alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase

Core tip: This study examined the potential factors affecting serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels in a Chinese population and determined the upper cut-off values of serum ALT and AST in these subjects. Serum ALT and AST levels were found to be associated with gender, alcohol consumption, serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and body mass index. The upper cut-off values of serum ALT and AST were 22.15 U/L and 25.35 U/L for healthy men and 22.40 U/L and 24.25 U/L for healthy women, respectively, which are markedly lower than current standards.