To diagnose diseases of the liver or pancreas, you can donate blood from a vein to GGT. This abbreviation stands for gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase. If you get results in which the gamma of hypertension is increased, then this may indicate stones in the gallbladder, toxic liver damage, alcoholism, diabetes mellitus, pancreatitis in the acute or chronic phase, hyperthyroidism, even prostate cancer, liver or pancreas. But do not panic in advance. This indicator may be too high if you are taking oral contraceptives, estrogens, or other medications that affect your test results.
When it is recommended to take GGT
If you know about your problems with the liver, pancreas, kidneys, or other organs of the gastrointestinal tract, then most likely you have donated venous blood more than once in order to determine the gamma-HT index.
It is necessary to control it if you know that you have the following ailments:
- chronic hepatitis, including its form without manifestation of jaundice,
- cancer of the pancreas, liver or prostate;
- addiction to alcohol that you fight.
With cancer, with the help of the GGT indicator, they monitor the effectiveness of the treatment, for the same purposes they are looked at when fighting alcohol addiction.
They find out whether the gamma hypertension is increased or not, also in order to diagnose liver lesions that are accompanied by cholestasis. This can be, for example, with viral or congenital hepatitis and obstructive jaundice, atresia of the biliary tract. This indicator is monitored after myocardial infarction. In addition, it is possible to find out whether the increased gamma of hypertension in the blood level or not, to test the hepatotoxicity of drugs.
Causes and mechanism for increasing enzyme activity
Gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase is directly involved in the metabolism of amino acids. It is a transfer catalyst for the gamma-glutamyl residue from the gamma-glutamyl peptide. The main organ where this enzyme is located is the kidneys: in them its content is 7000 times higher than the amount in blood serum. In the liver, GGT is more than 200-500 times, its content in the pancreas is not too different. It is also present in the intestines, spleen, heart, brain, skeletal muscles and prostate.
The gamma-HT assay is usually elevated due to the increased activity of this enzyme. And it manifests itself in the event that problems with the liver or biliary tract begin. Normally, the activity of GGT is negligible, it is directly related to the excretion of the enzyme, which is synthesized in the liver. That is why even with the appearance of minor problems, gamma-GT increases.
Diagnosis of diseases
Depending on the overall clinical picture, other blood counts, and research results, your doctor may suggest that you develop certain diseases. So, increased gamma-GT can be with the following ailments:
1. Cholestasis - the amount of the enzyme increases with both extrahepatic and intrahepatic forms of the disease. In this case, problems such as stones in the gallbladder, obstructive jaundice caused by a tumor of the liver, and cholangitis appear.
2. Acute hepatitis of viral etiology, various toxic diseases.
3. Hepatitis in chronic form.
4. Pancreatitis - GGT will be increased both in acute form and in chronic course.
5. Alcoholism.
6. Oncological diseases of the liver, pancreas or prostate.
In addition, if you are taking oral contraceptives, barbiturates, estrogens, cephalosporins, then the level of gamma-GT can also be increased. You should not try to diagnose diseases yourself, only a doctor can establish them.
GGT level and age
If you are going to donate blood to find out the level of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, then you need to remember the following. Normally, it is not high, but the obtained indicators will depend on gender and age. Also, do not rely on data from other laboratories, look only at the standards that are indicated in the research results. The level to be determined depends on the units and the equipment used.
So, in some laboratories it is indicated that gamma-hypertension will be increased provided that it is greater than 36 for women and 64 units / liter for men. Moreover, for children, an increase in the amount of the enzyme by 2, or even 4 times, is permissible.
Other laboratories have a separation according to age. So, for adult women, the norm will be the amount of the enzyme in the range from 6 to 42 units, for men - from 10 to 71. In adolescents aged 12 to 17 years, the amount of GGT in serum should not exceed 33 units / liter in girls and 45 in young men. Regardless of gender at the age of 6-12 years, the upper limit of the norm is considered significant up to 17 units / liter, from 3 to 6 - to 23, from 1 year to 3 - to 18, from 6 to 12 months - to 34.
A slightly different picture with newborns, in which the work of all body systems is just getting better. It's okay if, under the age of 5 days, GGT will be at a level of up to 185, and up to 6 months it can even rise to 204 U / L.
How to interpret the results
Even if you received tests in which gamma-hypertension is elevated, do not panic. To establish a diagnosis, it is not enough to know only information about the activity of this enzyme in blood serum. It is also important to find out the reaction of GGT to aminotransferases - GGT / AST or the ratio of GGT and ALT - it determines the distribution of cholestasis in relation to cell membranes. The interaction of gamma-GT with other enzymes responsible for the development of cholestasis, for example, alkaline phosphatase, is also being clarified.
If the level of GGT exceeds the norm by 50 times, while the indicators for other enzymes are not too changed, then this indicates alcoholism. In addition, it will be increased in people who smoke more than two packs of cigarettes a day, are obese, or have a meal before taking the test. Please note that if the body mass index exceeds 30 kg / m 2 , then GGT may be more by 50%.
Treatment and adjustment of indicators
If, according to the results of gamma-HT tests, it is increased, how to correct this indicator, it is necessary to determine with a doctor. After all, it is necessary to treat not the level of the enzyme, but the reason that caused its increase. So, if it is increased due to excessive alcohol consumption, then there is only one way out - to give up alcohol.
In other cases, specialist consultation is indispensable. If we are talking, for example, about pancreatitis, then a diet is important, in which it is worth abandoning fried and fatty foods, chocolate, coffee. It is also good to take drugs that affect the liver. Some hepatitis patients are prescribed a drug like Ursofalk. It can also be used with jaundice of newborns to help establish the normal functioning of the liver.