The Association of Alanine Transaminase With Aging, Frailty, and Mortality

The relationships between blood tests of liver function and injury (alanine transaminase [ALT], gamma-glutamyl transferase, bilirubin, and albumin) with age, frailty, and survival were investigated in 1,673 community-dwelling men aged 70 years or older. ALT was lower in older participants. Those par...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2010-07, Vol.65A (7), p.712-717
Main Authors: Le Couteur, David G., Blyth, Fiona M., Creasey, Helen M., Handelsman, David J., Naganathan, Vasi, Sambrook, Philip N., Seibel, Markus J., Waite, Louise M., Cumming, Robert G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age Factors
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Aging
Aging - blood
Aging - physiology
Alanine transaminase
Alanine Transaminase - blood
Alcohol Drinking - mortality
Analysis of Variance
Biomarker of aging
Biomarkers
Biomarkers - blood
Body Mass Index
Confidence Intervals
Frail Elderly
Frailty
Gerontology
Humans
Journal of Gerontology: BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Kaplan-Meier Estimate
Liver
Liver Function Tests
Male
Mortality
Multivariate Analysis
Odds Ratio
Older people
Proportional Hazards Models
Serum Albumin - analysis
Survival analysis
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Summary:The relationships between blood tests of liver function and injury (alanine transaminase [ALT], gamma-glutamyl transferase, bilirubin, and albumin) with age, frailty, and survival were investigated in 1,673 community-dwelling men aged 70 years or older. ALT was lower in older participants. Those participants with ALT below the median at baseline had reduced survival (hazard ratio 2.10, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.53–2.87) up to 4.9 years. Older age, frailty, low albumin, low body mass index, and alcohol abstinence also were associated with reduced survival, with age and frailty being the most powerful predictors. Low ALT was associated with frailty (odds ratio 3.54, 95% CI 2.45–5.11), and the relationship between ALT and survival disappeared once frailty and age were included in the survival analysis. Low ALT activity is a predictor of reduced survival; however, this seems to be mediated by its association with frailty and increasing age. ALT has potential value as a novel biomarker of aging.
ISSN:1079-5006
1758-535X
DOI:10.1093/gerona/glq082