Alanine Aminotransferase is Independently Associated with Carotid Atherosclerosis

Original Article

Journal of Neurosonology 2013;5(1):30-36.

경동맥 죽상동맥경화증과 Alanine Aminotransferase의 독립적 연관성

Abstract

Background
Alanine aminotrasferase (ALT) has been reported to be independently associated with cardiovascular diseases and vascular mortality. The aim of the present study was to explore whether ALT could be associated with carotid atherosclerosis, if factors which could affect liver function were considered.
Methods
The present cross-sectional study included 293 subjects who underwent abdominal and carotid ultrasonographic examinations and biochemical investigations. Among them, we excluded participants who had any of the exclusion criteria of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Regression analyses were performed for ALT and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and plaque, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were analyzed.
Results
In total, 216 (73.7%) met all the criteria for the NAFLD-eligibility and were included. ALT was independently associated with carotid IMT and plaque, even after adjusting for age, sex, and all the possible potential confounders. A unit (IU/L) increase of ALT for carotid plaque showed an odd ratio of 1.05 and 95% confidence intervals; 1.01-1.09. The area under ROC curves for carotid plaque of ALT was 0.69, which was significantly higher than that of NAFLD (0.58, p=0.032).

Conclusion
s
ALT was significantly and independently associated with both carotid IMT and plaque in the general population who are eligible for a diagnosis of NAFLD.