Alcoholic Liver Disease: Alfa Fetoprotein Alteration, Hematological & Biochemical Characteristics

Abstract

Background: Alcohol remains the single most significant cause of liver disease throughout the Western world, responsible for between 40 and 80% of cases of cirrhosis in different countries. Many of the factors underlying the development of alcoholic liver injury remain unknown, and significant questions remain about the value of even very basic therapeutic strategies.
Patients and Methods: In a cross sectional study, 113 alcoholic patients with evidence of liver disease in the absence of other significant etiology attending the Gastoenterorology and Hepatology Teaching Hospital between December 2001 and December 2003 were studied for the hematological and biochemical spectrum of alcoholic liver disease including Alfa fetoprotein (AFP) and gamma glutamyl transpeptidase alteration.
Results: The serum aminotransferase was mildly elevated and the AST/ALT ratio often exceeds 2.The serum bilirubin and PT positively correlated with the severity of ALD. The GGT was
commonly elevated irrespective of liver damage. AFP was bellow normal in (80%) and was negatively correlated with the severity of ALD.
Conclusion: The hematological profile of ALD was macrocytosis and neutrophile leukocytosis. The serum aminotransferase was mildly elevated. The GGT was commonly elevated irrespective of liver damage. AFP was bellow normal in the majority and is negatively correlated with the severity of ALD.