Plasma lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase activity in liver disease.

The plasma lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase was determined in patients with various liver diseases and the relationship between this enzyme activity and the other liver function tests were studied including long term observations. Lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase activity in fulminant hepatitis and liver cirrhosis showed a significant decrease in comparison with normal volunteers. Although the enzyme activity of hepatoma showed significant decrease, they were ascribed to the influence of concomitant liver cirrhosis. The enzyme activity showed insignificant changes in the acute and chronic hepatitis and alcoholic liver disease. Lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase activity was correlated with the concentration of cholesterolester rather than with the ratio of esters to cholesterol. In addition, it was well correlated with pseudocholine esterase and serum albumin. The lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase activity in the cases during follow-up period varied in good parallel with cholesterol-esters concentration and pseudocholine esterase in the cases with acute hepatitis; with serum albumin in the cases with liver cirrhosis. Furthermore, it varied inversely with SGPT in the cases with acute hepatitis. In a case with hepatoma, lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase activity decreased more sharply than the cholesterolesters concentration and serum albumin immediately before death.