Abstract
There have been many diagnostic methods for liver diseases by determining various enzymes released into the serum. However, the enzymatic methods using liverspecific enzymes as a paramater of liver injury were scarcely reported. Ornithine carbamyltransferase (OCT) which is mainly located in hepatic parenchymal cells, was measured in serum of various hepatic diseases and metabolic fatty liverrats preparing with treatments of ethionin, orotic acid or vitmin B6-deficiency-high protein diet.
OCT activity in serum was increased only in the patients of hepatic diseases and injuries. To be emphasized, the enzyme levels in serum were specifically elevated in these fatty livers, whereas GTP, GOT and γ-glutamyl transpeptidase in these serum were not increased.
Since there has been no satisfactory methods to determine the degree of fatty liver, the assay of OCT in serum is expected to be a useful tool for diagnosing the patients with fatty liver.
