Alanine aminotransferase is associated with atherothrombotic risk factors in a British South Asian population.

BACKGROUND

Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) predicts the development of Type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease in Caucasian subjects.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to determine the incidence of an elevated ALT and its relationship to metabolic and atherothrombotic risk factors in a healthy British South Asian population.

PATIENTS/METHODS: One hundred and forty-three participants from the West Yorkshire community were recruited randomly from general practice registers and were grouped according to whether their ALT was above or within the normal range (cut-off 35 IU L(-1)) and examined for differences in metabolic and atherothrombotic risk factors. All participants were originally from South Asia, with their grandparents being born in India, Pakistan, or Bangladesh.

RESULTS

The incidence of a raised ALT was 24%. Those with a raised ALT had a more adverse metabolic profile, with significantly higher body mass index, waist/hip ratio, fasting insulin, glucose, homeostasis model assessment homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and triglycerides, and lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Fifty per cent had the metabolic syndrome [International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria]. They also had a more adverse atherothrombotic profile, with higher tissue-type plasminogen activator and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) antigen. In accordance, the group as a whole showed a positive correlation of ALT (age-adjusted) with waist/hip ratio, insulin, glucose, triglycerides, PAI-1 antigen, factor XIII B subunit, and FXII, and a negative correlation with HDL cholesterol.

CONCLUSION

Raised ALT is common in apparently healthy British South Asians, and is significantly associated with an adverse metabolic and atherothrombotic risk profile.