Is glutamyl transpeptidase 146 considered high?

In daily life, many people often have irregular diets or overeating, which can easily cause some physical diseases. In addition to organs, glutamyl transpeptidase is also a kind of body cell tissue. The glutamyl transpeptidase index of 146 is on the high side, indicating that the liver is damaged, leading to liver disease, hepatitis, fatty liver, etc.

Is glutamyl transpeptidase 146 too high?

The high glutamyl transpeptidase index of 146 indicates that the liver cells are damaged and the metabolic function is abnormal. There are many reasons for the increase of glutamyl transpeptidase, such as various types of viral hepatitis, fatty hepatitis, alcoholic hepatitis, drug-induced hepatitis, autoimmune hepatitis, staying up late, fatigue, eating greasy food, etc. Do you have alcoholic liver? If you have symptoms such as fatigue, nausea, yellow urine, chest tightness, anorexia, etc.! Sometimes the gallbladder under the right chest hurts. The liver and gallbladder are very close. If there is pain in the gallbladder area, it will affect the liver and it is recommended to seek medical attention.

1. What is glutamyl transpeptidase?

γ-Glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) is an important enzyme involved in the γ-glutamyl cycle in amino acid absorption. This enzyme is widely distributed in the body and is arranged in the order of its activity intensity as follows: kidney, prostate, pancreas, liver, spleen, intestine, brain, etc. The physical and chemical properties of GGT in different organs are different. GGT in serum mainly comes from the kidneys, with a small amount from the liver and pancreas. The ratio of GGT in the kidneys, liver and pancreas is approximately 100:8:4.

GGT is produced in the liver by the mitochondria of hepatocytes, 90% of which is membrane-bound and distributed in the hepatocyte membrane and the epithelium of the bile ductules. It may increase in cases of cholestasis, hypersynthesis in the liver (such as chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis), and the production of specific GGT isoenzymes by liver cancer.

2. Normal value of glutamyl transpeptidase test:

Male: <64 U/L; Female: <45 U/L (37℃) (IFCC/method).

Male: 11-50U/L; Female: 7-30UU/L (European conventional Szasz method).

GGT in newborns to infants under 6 months old is significantly higher than that in adults, about 3 to 5 times, and has a significantly skewed distribution in adults, so the 95th percentile is used as the upper limit of the reference value.

3. Clinical significance of glutamyl transpeptidase detection:

1. Viral hepatitis: In acute hepatitis, liver cells can synthesize and release more GGT, causing a slight increase in serum GGT. The changes are generally parallel to ALT, but the increase is lower. If other liver function indicators are normal during the recovery period, but GGT has not recovered, it indicates that the hepatitis has not yet recovered. If it fluctuates repeatedly or remains at a high level for a long time, it should be considered that the hepatitis has a tendency to become chronic.

2. Primary or metastatic liver cancer: GGT and AFP both have the properties of oncofetal proteins, especially showing strong activity in nodular hyperplasia, reflecting space-occupying lesions in the liver. 95% of patients have elevated serum GGT levels due to reverse differentiation of cancer cells, which results in increased GGT production by fetal liver cells. Stimulation of tumor tissue or surrounding inflammation increases the permeability of liver cell membranes. Tumor compression causes local bile duct obstruction, bile excretion is blocked, and enzymes flow back into the blood, all of which lead to a significant increase in blood GGT, which is several or even dozens of times higher than normal.