Changes in Lp-PLA2 Are Associated With Elevated Alanine Aminotransferase Levels: A Nested Case-Control Study in a Three-Year Prospective Cohort.

This article examines the relationship between changes in liver enzymes and hepatic fat and their potential connection to cardiovascular disease (CVD). The study involved 900 healthy subjects, with 79 individuals showing slightly elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels after three years. The results indicated that elevated ALT levels were associated with higher levels of other CVD risk indicators, such as aspartate aminotransferase (AST), gamma-glutamyltransferase (¿-GT), high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) activity, oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL), urinary 8-epi-prostaglandin F2¿ (8-epi-PGF2¿), and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (ba-PWV). The study suggests that increased Lp-PLA2 activity and other CVD risk factors may contribute to chronic low-grade inflammation. The study also found that elevated liver enzymes and increased Lp-PLA2 activity contribute to systemic inflammation in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and that both ALT levels and Lp-PLA2 activity could serve as valuable non-invasive markers for detecting the advanced status of NAFLD. However, the study had limitations in terms of sample size and correlation analysis, and further research is needed to confirm these findings. [Extracted from the article]