Liver enzymes, metabolomics and genome-wide association studies: from systems biology to the personalized medicine.

ABSTRACT: For several decades, serum levels of alanine (ALT) and aspartate (AST) aminotransferases have been regarded as markers of liver injury, including a wide range of etiologies from viral hepatitis to fatty liver. The increasing worldwide prevalence of metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease revealed that transaminases are strong predictors of type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, atherothrombotic risk profile, and overall risk of metabolic disease. Therefore, it is plausible to suggest that aminotransferases are surrogate biomarkers of "liver metabolic functioning" beyond the classical concept of liver cellular damage, as their enzymatic activity might actually reflect key aspects of the physiology and pathophysiology of the liver function. In this study, we summarize the background

SUBMITTER: Sookoian S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4299326 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature