DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2019.v07i09.042

Pages: 3123-3128

Because the pattern and degree of elevation of enzyme activity vary with the type of Liver disease, their measurement is extremely helpful in the recognition and differential diagnosis of liver damage. Several factors govern the ability of liver enzymes to assist in diagnosis, including their (1) tissue specificity, (2) subcellular distribution, (3) relative activity  of enzyme activity in liver and plasma, (4) patterns of release, and (5) clearance from plasma [1]. One of the typical laboratory abnormalities of alcoholic hepatitis are elevated AST and ALT. Precisely an AST: ALT ratio of more than 2 suggests alcoholism [2]. However pyridoxine deficiency which is common in chronic alcoholics, alter the pattern of ratio as the ALT is more dependent upon pyridoxine rather than AST. Aim and Objective: The aim is to measure serum AST ALT in persons taking alcohol for long duration and analyze the results statistically in cases and controls by arriving the AST/ALT ratio. Materials and methods: The study consists of two groups of men of all ages. Both group consume alcohol for longer periods. They are selected by screening them by standard questionnaire for alcoholism and divided in to two groups. Group 1 comprising of persons having AUDIT score of less than 8 and group 2 comprising of persons with AUDIT score 8 and more. An AUDIT score of 8 is generally considered is the cut off score above which alcohol dependency problem usually exists. Results: Comparisons were made with Mann–Whitney test. Pairwise correlations were calculated with Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients, as required. A P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant and the overall p value were <0.001(AST); <0.001 (ALT); 0.186 (AST/ALT Ratio) for both groups. Conclusion: Excessive drinking increases the AST/ALT ratio there by increasing the risk for alcoholic liver diseases. However there is reversal of ratio can occur in alcoholics which would better be studied further.