Serum gamma-glutamyltransferase: linking together environmental pollution, redox equilibria and progression of atherosclerosis?

摘要

Evidence has accumulated that serum activities of the enzyme 7-glutamyltransferase (GGT), routinely used as an index of hepatobiliary dysfunction and alcohol abuse, may be related to the progression and complications of atherosclerosis. Epidemiological investigations on large unselected populations, including the Framingham Heart Study, suggest that serum GGT has independent value in the prognostic assessment of atherosclerosis-related cardiovascular diseases (1, 2). Several observations support the involvement of GGT enzyme activity in the disease process itself. Active GGT is in fact accumulated in atherosclerotic lesions, and biochemical data indicate that such deposits likely originate from protein complexes circulating in blood (3).