Altered alanine aminotransferase and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase in women with history of preeclampsia: association with waist-to-hip ratio and body mass index.

OBJECTIVE

Preeclampsia (PE), mostly when associated with HELLP syndrome, together with acute fatty liver of pregnancy, are the main causes of severe hepatic failure in pregnancy. Despite the number of studies in pregnancies complicated with PE, there are a few studies that focused on the evaluation of the hepatic function of these women several years after delivery. In this way, we evaluated circulating levels of AST, ALT, gammaGT and CRP several years after preeclamptic pregnancy to verify if these parameters are altered.

METHODS

Eighty-nine women with previous PE and 60 women without medical complications were invited to the research centers. After the physical examination, blood was drawn for biochemical measurements. Plasma CRP levels and serum concentration of AST, ALT, gammaGT were measured by automated enzymatic assays.

RESULTS

Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly higher in women with history of PE than in control group as well as BMI and waist-to-hip ratio. ALT and gammaGT were significantly higher in women with previous history of PE, whereas AST and CRP presented similar levels between the two groups. Data revealed statistically significant positive correlations between ALT and gammaGT with waist-to-hip ratio and BMI. Positive correlations were also found between BMI and AST and CRP.

CONCLUSION

It is possible that the increase in ALT and gammaGT levels is due to being overweight or through accumulation of visceral fat. Unaltered values of CRP suggest that the higher ALT and gammaGT values found in women with history of PE are not associated with inflammation.