A correlative study on the Aminotransferases
and Gamma Glutamyl Transferase in the
Saliva and Serum of Chronic Alcoholics
before and after Alcohol Deaddiction
512-515
Correspondence
Shivashankara A.R., Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Father
Muller Medical College, Mangalore-575002.
Email: sramachandrayya@gmail.com,
Phone: 0824 2238255, 09880146133.
Objective: The present study was taken up to evaluate the effects of chronic alcoholism on the activities of γ-glutamyl transferase (GGT), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in serum and saliva, and to assess the effects of alcohol abstinence on these enzyme-activities.
Methods: This was a case-control study. Fifty chronic male alcoholics (with a history of alcohol abuse for five years or more) who were aged 30-70 years, who were admitted to the Deaddiction Center for Alcohol Withdrawal Treatment, were the subjects. Age-matched, normal, healthy controls were also included in the study. GGT, ALT and AST were assayed in the saliva and serum of fifty chronic alcoholics before and after the deaddiction of one month.
Results: The activities of the enzymes in the saliva as well as inthe serum were significantly higher in the alcoholics as compared to that in the healthy controls. The serum GGT, ALT and AST levels were higher by 4.4 fold, 2 fold and 1.8 fold respectively, while the salivary activities of these enzymes were higher by 2.1, 3.2 and 2.6 fold respectively in the alcoholics. The activities of these enzymes in the serum and saliva decreased significantly after one month of the alcohol withdrawal regimen. There was a significant correlation between the serum and the salivary activities in the alcoholics, with respect to each enzyme.
Conclusions: The enzymes ALT, AST and GGT in blood and saliva, served as the markers of alcoholism and alcohol deaddiction. The strong correlation between the salivary and serum activities of the enzymes in alcoholics indicates the potential use of saliva as an alternate to blood in the future.