Hello! I have been a doctor for 21 years. My name is Georgy Olegovich Sapego. In this article I will tell you about the liver test for gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, which turned out to be not only hepatic.
This thing is called gamma glutamyltranspeptidase or gamma glutamyltransferase. It is watched when the liver is tested.
It's easier to call it "GGT". So this very GGT sits not only in the liver, but also in many different organs. In a healthy person, GGT floats in the blood. Very often, with various problems with the liver, GGT appears along with its girlfriend alkaline phosphatase. We have already covered this alkaline phosphatase in one of the articles.
There is a lot of GGT in children and especially in infants. This is normal.
Alcohol
GGT is often increased in a person who loves to drink, or even if he just drank well once. It is believed that alcohol scalds liver cells so much that they begin to leak like a rusty bucket, and GGT enters the bloodstream.
This very GGT does not have any advantages over alkaline phosphatase or enzymes in terms of diagnosing liver diseases. Rather, it is an analysis to detect a single poisoning with alcohol or some kind of medicine.
Crayfish
GGT would have remained a companion for drunks, but something new has appeared. By itself, GGT sits on the surface of the secretory epithelial cells. Well, that is, in the renal tubules, in the bile ducts and in the pancreas, there are many different tubes and cavities that must be covered with a protective layer of cells. Among these cells there are secretory cells. That is, they are giving off something. And now, hordes of GGT sit on the surface of secretory cells.
It is from the epithelium that cancer grows. Therefore, if GGT in the blood is scaled, then this may be a sign that cancer is growing and gaining strength. They are trying to adapt this analysis to monitor the growth of tumors and the effectiveness of their treatment.
Another explanation for the link between cancer and GGT is free radicals. They appear in large numbers during tumor growth.
Heart attacks
An increase in GGT in the blood is accompanied by the appearance of free radicals. These are such dirty tricks who burn everything they touch. We have already discussed the story about unstable atherosclerotic plaques that burst and get a heart attack.
Free radicals are considered one of the reasons that destabilize the plaque. It turned out that if a person has GGT scales in his blood, then he then often has a heart attack.
On the one hand, GGT protects us from free radicals, and on the other, it churns them out on an industrial scale. This happens especially quickly in the presence of iron.
It turns out that GGT is a cheap and accurate test that can hint not only on alcohol abuse and liver problems, but also on the risk of heart attack with any oncology. So this "liver" test has remained relevant for 50 years.
By itself, we all have GGT. This thing is universal, it does not end, and there is usually no lack of it. So there will be enough tests for everyone. Just have time to pass. The main thing is that if you yourself have done liver tests, then do not forget to show the results to the doctor, because without him it will be difficult to draw conclusions.
If you liked the article, then like it and subscribe to my channel. Check out my articles on related topics:
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