Relationship between serum gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase activity and blood pressure in middle-aged male and female non-drinkers.

Serum gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (gamma-GTP) activity is a biological parameter for alcohol consumption. In our previous study, however, serum gamma-GTP levels seemed to correlate with blood pressure levels in both middle-aged male non-drinkers and drinkers. Therefore, the associations between gamma-GTP and BP were analysed more minutely in 385 male and 1126 female non-drinkers. The means of systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) pressure in the males were significantly higher than those in the females, despite similar age and body mass index (BMI). The sex difference of BP disappeared after adjustment for serum gamma-GTP levels. The correlations between gamma-GTP and BP and the contributions of three variables, age, BMI, and gamma-GTP, to BP levels found in the non-drinkers in the present study were similar to those observed in the previous study on males including drinkers. These results suggest that common or possibly similar mechanisms which relate to the elevation of serum gamma-GTP activity are involved in the production of high BP both in non-drinking obese persons and in drinkers.