Serum gamma-glutamyl transferase, a marker of alcohol intake, is associated with telomere length and cardiometabolic risk in young adulthood

AbstractStudies based on self-reported alcohol consumption and telomere length show inconsistent results. Therefore, we studied the association between gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), a widely used biomarker of alcohol intake, and telomere length. The possible health relevance in young adulthood was explored by investigating cardiometabolic risk factors. Mixed modelling was performed to examine GGT and alcohol consumption in association with telomere length in buccal cells of 211 adults between 18 and 30 years old of the East Flanders Prospective Twin Survey. In addition, we investigated the association between GGT and cardiometabolic risk factors; waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, fasting glucose, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. Although we did not observe an association between self-reported alcohol consumption and telomere length, our results show that a doubling in serum GGT is associated with 7.80% (95% CI − 13.9 to − 1.2%; p = 0.02) shorter buccal telomeres, independently from sex, chronological age, educational level, zygosity and chorionicity, waist-to-hip ratio and smoking. The association between GGT was significant for all five cardiometabolic risk factors, while adjusting for age. We show that GGT, a widely used biomarker of alcohol consumption, is associated with telomere length and with risk factors of cardiometabolic syndrome, despite the young age of this study population.

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Elevated gamma-glutamyl transferase is associated with subclinical inflammation independent of cardiometabolic risk factors in an asymptomatic population: a cross-sectional study

Nutrition & Metabolism ◽

10.1186/s12986-016-0097-7 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Shozab S. Ali ◽

Ebenezer T. Oni ◽

Michael J. Blaha ◽

Emir Veledar ◽

Hamid R. Feiz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Cardiometabolic Risk ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Cardiometabolic Risk Factors ◽

Gamma Glutamyl Transferase ◽

Subclinical Inflammation ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Gamma Glutamyl ◽

Glutamyl Transferase

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Association of Serum C-reactive Protein Levels with Gamma Glutamyl Transferase and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Middle Aged People

Bulletin of Egyptian Society for Physiological Sciences ◽

10.21608/besps.2009.36336 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 29 (1) ◽

pp. 171-182

Author(s):

Kholoud Ramadan

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Cardiometabolic Risk ◽

Cardiometabolic Risk Factors ◽

Gamma Glutamyl Transferase ◽

C Reactive Protein ◽

Gamma Glutamyl ◽

Aged People ◽

Protein Levels ◽

Reactive Protein ◽

Glutamyl Transferase

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LONGITUDINAL COMPARISON OF CARBOHYDRATE-DEFICIENT TRANSFERRIN AND GAMMA-GLUTAMYL TRANSFERASE: COMPLEMENTARY MARKERS OF EXCESSIVE ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION

Alcohol and Alcoholism ◽

10.1093/oxfordjournals.alcalc.a008106 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 31 (1) ◽

pp. 101-107 ◽

Cited By ~ 65

Author(s):

A. HELANDER ◽

A. V. CARLSSON ◽

S. BORG

Keyword(s):

Alcohol Consumption ◽

Gamma Glutamyl Transferase ◽

Excessive Alcohol Consumption ◽

Gamma Glutamyl ◽

Carbohydrate Deficient Transferrin ◽

Excessive Alcohol ◽

Longitudinal Comparison ◽

Glutamyl Transferase

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Correlation of Gamma Glutamyl Transferase with Traditional Risk Markers of Cardiovascular Disease in Different Obesity Phenotypes

JOURNAL FOR CLINICAL AND DIAGNOSTIC RESEARCH ◽

10.7860/jcdr/2021/48020.14801 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Amit Kumar Meena ◽

Sonali Sharma ◽

Barkha Gupta ◽

Asrar Ahmed

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Cardiovascular Disease ◽

Lipid Profile ◽

Liver Enzymes ◽

Tertiary Care ◽

Gamma Glutamyl Transferase ◽

Strong Positive Correlation ◽

Positive Correlation ◽

Gamma Glutamyl ◽

Glutamyl Transferase

Introduction: The increased prevalence of overweight, obesity, and metabolic syndrome has revealed that liver enzymes have a potential role as determinants of metabolic conditions such as, hyperlipidemia, and Cardiovascular Disease (CVD). Aim: The study aimed to investigate the correlation between liver enzymes with anthropometric indices of obesity and lipid profile in different obese phenotypes at a tertiary care. Materials and Methods: The present observational study was conducted on a total of 180 obese participants of either gender in the age group 18-59 years from December 2018 to May 2019. These were further divided into two phenotypic groups viz., Metabolically Healthy Obese (MHO group; n=90) and Metabolically Unhealthy Obese (MUHO group; n=90) according to NCEP ATP III criteria.Traditional cardiovascular risk factors were evaluated in the study participants through anthropometric viz., Body Mass Index (BMI), Waist Circumference (WC), Hip Circumference (HC), waist–hip ratio (WHR), blood pressure and biochemical investigations i.e., serum glucose, lipid profile and liver enzymes. Data was analysed by using Microsoft excel software. Results: Among 180 obese participants, 76 were males and 104 females with mean age 40.42±10.84 years. In MUHO phenotype, Gamma Glutamyl Transferase (GGT) showed a strong positive correlation with BMI (r=0.413, p=0.00001), lipid parameters viz., LDL-C (r=0.3785, p=0.0001), TC (r=0.2953, p=0.0023), TG (r=0.2623, p=0.006) and negative correlation with HDL-C (-r=0.3167, p=0.001). No significant correlation was found in MHO phenotype between liver enzymes, BMI and lipid profile parameters. Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that GGT shows a strong positive correlation with traditional risk factors in MUHO participants. Thus, raised GGT may be considered as a risk marker of CVD in MUHO phenotype.

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Indicators of Alcohol Consumption: Comparisons Between a Questionnaire (Mm-MAST), Interviews and Serum gamma-Glutamyl Transferase (GGT) in a Health Survey of Middle-aged Males

Addiction ◽

10.1111/j.1360-0443.1982.tb02459.x ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 77 (3) ◽

pp. 297-304 ◽

Cited By ~ 146

Author(s):

Hans Kristenson ◽

Erik Trell

Keyword(s):

Alcohol Consumption ◽

Health Survey ◽

Gamma Glutamyl Transferase ◽

Middle Aged ◽

Gamma Glutamyl ◽

Glutamyl Transferase

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Abstract P027: Gamma-Glutamyl Transferase is More Strongly Associated with Diabetes Risk Than Alanine and Aspartate Aminotransferase: Results from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) StudyStudy

Circulation ◽

10.1161/circ.125.suppl_10.ap027 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 125 (suppl_10) ◽

Author(s):

Andrea L Christman ◽

Mariana Lazo ◽

Chiadi E Ndumele ◽

James Pankow ◽

Josef Coresh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Liver Disease ◽

Aspartate Aminotransferase ◽

Liver Enzymes ◽

Gamma Glutamyl Transferase ◽

Community Based ◽

Gamma Glutamyl ◽

Spline Models ◽

Glutamyl Transferase ◽

Diagnosed Diabetes

Introduction: Liver disease and diabetes often co-occur and have shared risk factors. We undertook this study to investigate which liver enzyme (alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), or gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT)) would be most strongly associated with incident diabetes in a large, community-based population. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that ALT, AST, and GGT would be independently associated with diabetes and that ALT would be most strongly associated with diabetes due to its liver specificity. Methods: We conducted a prospective analysis of 9,524 participants in the ARIC Study without diagnosed diabetes or a history of high alcohol consumption (>14 [women] and >21 [men] drinks/week). Enzymes were measured from stored plasma samples. We examined the association of sex-specific quartiles of liver enzymes with incident diagnosed diabetes using Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for demographic, lifestyle, and behavioral risk factors. Restricted cubic spline models were fit to model the continuous associations. Results: Median ALT, AST, and GGT were 13, 18, and 22 U/L, respectively. During a median follow-up of 11 years, there were 1,905 self-reported cases of diabetes. All three liver enzymes were significantly associated with diabetes, even after adjustment for all covariates (HRs (95% CIs): ALT, 1.63 (1.44, 1.85); AST, 1.23 (1.09, 1.40); GGT, 1.99 (1.71, 2.30) comparing Q4 versus Q1). The restricted cubic spline models show similar patterns (Figure). After simultaneously adjustment for the other liver enzymes, only ALT and GGT remained significantly associated with diabetes. In analyses further restricted to participants who reported never consuming alcohol only GGT remained significant. Conclusion: In this community-based population, GGT was more strongly associated with diabetes risk than ALT and AST. Although ALT and AST are considered to be more specific markers of liver disease, higher levels of GGT may be a more important risk factor for diabetes.

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Biochemical and Haematological Response to Alcohol Intake

Annals of Clinical Biochemistry International Journal of Laboratory Medicine ◽

10.1177/000456328502200104 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

pp. 50-61 ◽

Cited By ~ 71

Author(s):

A G Shaper ◽

S J Pocock ◽

D Ashby ◽

M Walker ◽

T P Whitehead

Keyword(s):

Alcohol Consumption ◽

Alcohol Intake ◽

Density Lipoprotein ◽

Gamma Glutamyl Transferase ◽

Haematological Response ◽

Analysis Technique ◽

Heavy Drinkers ◽

Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin ◽

Glutamyl Transferase ◽

Single Blood Sample

In a clinical survey of 7735 middle-aged men, alcohol consumption has been related to 25 biochemical and haematological measurements obtained from a single blood sample. Most measurements showed some association with alcohol consumption, gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) being the most strongly associated. Lead, mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular volume, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), urate and aspartate transaminase also showed substantial associations with alcohol intake. Using a discriminant analysis technique, a simple score based on five variables (GGT, HDL-C, urate, MCH and lead) provided the best discrimination between heavy drinkers (e.g. more than three pints of beer daily) and occasional drinkers, but still failed to identify more than half of the heavy drinkers. This combined score may prove a useful measure of an individual's biochemical/haematological response to alcohol consumption for use in epidemiological and clinical studies of alcohol-related disorders. The use of such indices should complement but not replace measures of alcohol intake derived from questionnaires.

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