Immunological Measurement of Aspartate/Alanine Aminotransferase

Enzymatic analysis of aspartate/alanine aminotransferase (AST/ALT) does not exactly represent the progression of liver fibrosis. Immunoassay for the AST (cytoplasmic [c] AST/mitochondrial [m] AST) and ALT (ALT1/ALT2) have been suggested as one of the alternatives for the enzy-matic analysis. We evaluated the efficacy of immunoassay in predicting liver fibrosis and in-flammation. A total of 219 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) who underwent hepatic ve-nous pressure gradient (HVPG) and liver biopsy before antiviral therapy were recruited. Serum samples were prepared from blood during HVPG. The liver function test including enzymatic AST/ALT and immunological cAST, mAST, ALT1 and ALT2 were checked with sandwich ELI-SA immunoassay with fluorescence labeled monoclonal antibodies, and were compared with the METAVIR stage of live fibrosis and the Knodell grade of inflammation.

Inclusion criteria

• patients with CHB, who simultaneously underwent HVPG and liver biopsy for the routine check-up prior to antiviral treatment, were prospectively recruited.

Exclusion criteria

• Patients were selected according to inclusion criteria with CHB and then excluded according to exclusion criteria: i. they had other cause with liver disease: ii. decompensated cirrhosis and re-ceived antiviral treatment within the previous 6 months. iii. malignancy