Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P17174 (aspartate aminotransferase)
 14,872 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Eighty-three patients suffering from upper abdominal pain were studied to evaluate the contribution of commonly used biochemical markers in the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis. On admission to hospital, serum amylase, lipase, total bilirubin, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase and gamma-glutamyl transferase activities were measured. By stepwise logistic discrimination, only two determinations appeared to be of clinical value: lipase and alkaline phosphatase activities. A classification rule was established including these two measurements and its diagnostic performance evaluated by a jackknifed method amounted .83%. ROC curves were used to assess sensitivity and specificity. Our study clearly shows that serum lipase measurements should be preferred to amylase measurements, and that our two-test classification rule provides an efficient aid in clinical decision-making.
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PMID:Combined diagnostic value of biochemical markers in acute pancreatitis. 169 97

During a 2-year period pocket depth, probing attachment level, gingival index, and crevicular fluid aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels were monitored in 25 previously treated periodontitis patients. Probing attachment level change was used retrospectively to identify sites where active periodontal destruction had occurred. The ability of crevicular fluid AST activities at 600, 800, 1000, and 1200 microIU levels to recognize active disease was investigated. Probing attachment level changes observed support the concept that the pattern of periodontal disease activity is episodic and infrequent. A loss of greater than or equal to 2 mm was found at 11% of all studied sites, whereas a gain of greater than or equal to 2 mm was noticed for 15% of sites. 2 subjects had 3 teeth that lost greater than or equal to 2 mm of attachment, whereas 15 subjects demonstrated no teeth with disease activity. The remaining 8 subjects had 1 or 2 sites that lost greater than or equal to 2 mm of attachment. Bayes's theorem and ROC curves were used to exemplify the sensitivity and the specificity of AST assessments. The AST 800 microIU demonstrated a sensitivity of 0.93 and specificity 0.68 and an odds ratio of 15.4 for attachment loss greater than or equal to 2 mm. Under the conditional probability of either 50%, 25% or 10% active disease prevalence, AST 800 microIU has a predictability of 73%, 50% and 24% respectively.
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PMID:Diagnostic characteristics of crevicular fluid aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels associated with periodontal disease activity. 173 8

We measured serum creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LD), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in 26 heat stroke (HS) victims and 10 control (non-heat-exhausted) subjects during annual Hajj in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. On admission to the HS treatment unit, serum CK, AST, ALT, and LD were higher in HS victims than controls (P < 0.05), and at 6, 12, and 24 h were higher than baseline concentration. The patient group was divided into three groups, (a) those who had a quick recovery, (b) those who were critically ill until the end of the Hajj period (7 days), and (c) those who died. Serum enzymes at the time of admission were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in the nonsurviving group (n = 6) and the severely ill (n = 9) than in those who had a quick recovery (n = 11). ROC curves were plotted for each enzyme. The most useful indicator was LD, as it could distinguish significantly between the groups who died and those who had a quick recovery (area under the curve = 0.991 +/- 0.0286). It was followed by CK and AST as useful prognostic factors. When compared with ROC curves for body temperature, anion gap, and serum potassium, the enzyme results were superior prognostic indicators.
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PMID:Serum enzymes in heat stroke: prognostic implication. 921 54

This study assessed the activity and tolerability of an HIV-protease inhibitor, saquinavir, alone or in combination with zidovudine. A total of 92 previously untreated HIV-infected patients with CD4 cell counts < 300 cells/mm3 participated in a parallel, randomized double-blind study. Patients were randomized to receive one of five treatments, each three times a day: 600 mg of saquinavir; 200 mg of zidovudine; 75, 200 or 600 mg of saquinavir in combination with 200 mg of zidovudine. The primary treatment period was 16 weeks, with monthly extensions in patients who did not show major disease progression or toxicity. The main measures of the efficacy of therapy used were changes in CD4 cell counts and in the concentration of HIV-1 RNA in the plasma (as determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction). The 600 mg dose of saquinavir in combination with zidovudine induced a 1.6 log (after 4 weeks) and a 0.7 log (after 16 weeks) median reduction in plasma RNA concentration; this reduction was greater than those seen in the other four treatment groups. The combination of 600 mg of saquinavir with zidovudine also resulted in a larger and more sustained improvement in the CD4 cell count than either saquinavir or zidovudine monotherapy or the other combination therapies. In the group receiving 200 mg of saquinavir in combination with zidovudine, the maximal median change in CD4 cell count occurred at week 2 (85 cells/mm3), and by week 16 had fallen to 15 cells/mm3. In the group receiving 600 mg of saquinavir plus zidovudine, the median change in CD4 cell count remained high for the 16-week period (median change of 48 cells/mm3 at week 2 and 61 cells/mm3 at week 16). Saquinavir was safe and very well tolerated, either alone or in combination with zidovudine. The incidence of adverse events was greater in the four groups receiving zidovudine therapy, and all the most commonly reported adverse events have previously been associated with zidovudine therapy. Few changes in laboratory values occurred during the study, except for known zidovudine-associated toxicities. The most frequent abnormalities were raised aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase levels, depressed calcium levels, and abnormally high or low phosphate levels. Despite the low oral bioavailability of saquinavir, combined virological and immunological data show definite antiviral activity in vivo for the combination of saquinavir at 600 mg plus zidovudine at 200 mg (each three times daily). The combination of drugs with different mechanisms of action represents an advance in the treatment of HIV infection.
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PMID:A randomized controlled trial of a protease inhibitor (saquinavir) in combination with zidovudine in previously untreated patients with advanced HIV infection. 1132 46

Information on the stage of liver fibrosis is essential in managing chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients. However, most models for predicting liver fibrosis are complicated and separate formulas are needed to predict significant fibrosis and cirrhosis. The aim of our study was to construct one simple model consisting of routine laboratory data to predict both significant fibrosis and cirrhosis among patients with CHC. Consecutive treatment-naive CHC patients who underwent liver biopsy over a 25-month period were divided into 2 sequential cohorts: training set (n = 192) and validation set (n = 78). The best model for predicting both significant fibrosis (Ishak score > or = 3) and cirrhosis in the training set included platelets, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase with an area under ROC curves (AUC) of 0.82 and 0.92, respectively. A novel index, AST to platelet ratio index (APRI), was developed to amplify the opposing effects of liver fibrosis on AST and platelet count. The AUC of APRI for predicting significant fibrosis and cirrhosis were 0.80 and 0.89, respectively, in the training set. Using optimized cut-off values, significant fibrosis could be predicted accurately in 51% and cirrhosis in 81% of patients. The AUC of APRI for predicting significant fibrosis and cirrhosis in the validation set were 0.88 and 0.94, respectively. In conclusion, our study showed that a simple index using readily available laboratory results can identify CHC patients with significant fibrosis and cirrhosis with a high degree of accuracy. Application of this index may decrease the need for staging liver biopsy specimens among CHC patients.
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PMID:A simple noninvasive index can predict both significant fibrosis and cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C. 1591 70

Liver biopsy is recommended before antiviral treatment, particularly for patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 infection, but it may cause complications and is limited by sampling error. Several non-invasive tests comprising routine laboratory parameters (simple fibrosis tests) have been proposed to predict fibrosis in chronic HCV. The aim of the current study was to validate and compare the diagnostic accuracies of the simple fibrosis tests, aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ratio (AAR), cirrhosis discriminant score (CDS), age-platelet (AP) index, Pohl score, AST-to-platelet ratio index (APRI), and platelet count per se. Staging was performed in liver biopsy specimens of 194 treatment-naive patients with chronic HCV according to Ishak et al. by two independent pathologists. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed comparable diagnostic accuracies of CDS, AP index, APRI, and platelet count for prediction of significant fibrosis (F3-F6) (area under the ROC curve [AUROC], 0.71, 0.74, 0.80, and 0.71, respectively; pathologist A) and for prediction of cirrhosis (F5-F6) (AUROC, 0.91, 0.91, 0.90, and 0.89, respectively; pathologist A). Diagnostic accuracy of APRI for prediction of significant fibrosis was superior to that of AAR (P < .05). Significant fibrosis was reliably predicted by APRI > or = 1.5 and platelet count <150 x10(9)/L in 24% and 22% of the patients, respectively, whereas cirrhosis was reliably excluded by APRI <2.0 and platelet count > or = 150 x10(9)/L in 85% and 78% of the patients, respectively. In conclusion, simple fibrosis tests may render liver biopsy unnecessary only in a minority of patients with chronic HCV. Improved serum fibrosis markers with greater sensitivity for severe fibrosis or cirrhosis are needed.
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PMID:Comparison and validation of simple noninvasive tests for prediction of fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C. 1591 55

Hepatic fibrosis in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is associated with progression of the disease. In the present study, we analyzed the discriminative ability of serum laminin, type IV collagen and hyaluronan levels to predict the presence of fibrosis in these patients. In this preliminary report, we studied 30 overweight patients divided into two groups according to the absence (group I, N = 19) or presence (group II, N = 11) of fibrosis in a liver biopsy. Triglycerides, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyltranspeptidade, hyaluronan (noncompetitive fluoroassay), type IV collagen, and laminin (ELISA) were determined. Group II presented significantly higher mean laminin, hyaluronan, type IV collagen, and aspartate aminotransferase values, which were due to the correlation between these parameters and the stage of fibrosis in the biopsy (Spearman's correlation coefficient, rS = 0.65, 0.62, 0.53, and 0.49, respectively). Analysis of the ROC curve showed that laminin values >282 ng/ml were those with the best diagnostic performance, with 87% accuracy. Association of laminin with type IV collagen showed improvement in the positive predictive value (100%), but with reduction in diagnostic sensitivity (64%). When compared with the criteria of Ratziu et al. for the diagnosis of septal fibrosis, laminin values presented a better diagnostic accuracy (83 vs 70%). Determination of extracellular matrix components in serum, especially of laminin, may identify patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and fibrosis and these components may be used as indicators for liver biopsy in these patients.
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PMID:Serum laminin, type IV collagen and hyaluronan as fibrosis markers in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. 1591 56

Soluble IL-2 receptor (sIL-2R), total protein, uric acid, glucose, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and lactate dehydrogenase (LD) levels were analyzed in 153 (19 cytology(+), 134 cytology(-)) pairs of CSF and serum samples and the data were compared with the results of cytologic examination to find new CSF markers of CNS involvement in 77 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The CSF leukocyte count of cytology(+) samples averaged 107.6+/-362.4 cells/microl, and was higher than that of cytology(-) samples (1.0+/-3.4 cells/microl, p=0.001). The CSF sIL2-R level of cytology(+) samples averaged 162.1+/-247.7 U/ml, and was higher than that of cytology(-) samples (11.2+/-44.6 U/ml, p <0.001). The CSF total protein, uric acid, glucose, AST, and LD levels were not significantly different in cytology(+) and cytology(-) samples (p >0.05). ROC curves showed that the discrimination power of CSF sIL2-R for the presence of leukemic blasts was better than that of CSF leukocyte counts. With a cut-off value for CSF sIL2-R at 10 U/ml, the sensitivity was 89.5% and the specificity was 89.6%. With a cut-off value for CSF leukocyte count at 4 cells/microl, the sensitivity and specificity were 47.4% and 63.2%, respectively. In conclusion, CSF sIL2-R level is a valuable marker of CNS involvement in ALL patients; a level of >10 U/ml may serve as an objective indicator of CNS involvement in conjunction with conventional cytology and the CSF leukocyte count.
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PMID:Significance of cerebrospinal fluid sIL-2R level as a marker of CNS involvement in acute lymphoblastic leukemia. 1625 56

The purpose of this study was to determine the usefulness of salivary biochemical markers for the screening of periodontal disease and examine the agreement between the results of saliva enzyme tests and those of probing depth. The present study included a total of 187 subjects who underwent annual medical check-ups at the Comprehensive Health Care Center, Honjo, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Periodontal pocket probing was performed with a WHO probe, and various enzymes and biochemical parameters in saliva were measured. For lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), the proportions of the five isoenzymes were calculated. To decide the cut-off point for each enzymatic activity, receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC curves) were constructed and the points of minimum difference between sensitivity and specificity were decided. Among the biochemical markers tested, salivary LDH level had the highest sensitivity and specificity (sensitivity 0.66, specificity 0.67), while salivary levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) also had sensitivity and specificity above 0.60. Among the LDH isoenzymes, LDH4 and LDH5 dominated in whole saliva samples. Salivary LDH may be a feasible and useful parameter for the screening of periodontal disease, while salivary AST and BUN also appear to be potentially useful for this purpose.
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PMID:Screening of periodontitis with salivary enzyme tests. 1722 Jun 14

In chronic hepatitis C (CHC), liver biopsy is the gold standard method for assessing liver histology, however it is invasive and can have complications. Non-invasive markers have been proposed and aspartate aminotransferase (AST)-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) has been shown as an easy and inexpensive marker of liver fibrosis. This study evaluated the diagnostic performance of APRI for significant fibrosis and cirrhosis prediction in CHC patients. This study included treatment-naive CHC patients who had undergone liver biopsy from January 2000 to August 2006. All histological slides were reviewed according to the METAVIR system. APRI was calculated based on laboratory results performed within four months from the biopsy. Twenty-eight (56%) patients had significant fibrosis (F2-F4) and 13 (26%) had cirrhosis (F4). The area under ROC curves of APRI for predicting significant fibrosis and cirrhosis were 0.92 (0.83-1.00) and 0.92 (0.85-1.00), respectively. Using cut-off values recommended by prior studies, significant fibrosis could be identified, in accordance with liver biopsy, in 44% and cirrhosis in 66% of patients. APRI could identify significant fibrosis and cirrhosis at a high degree of accuracy in studied patients.
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PMID:Aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index for fibrosis and cirrhosis prediction in chronic hepatitis C patients. 1855 8


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