Abstract
It has been reported that serum transaminase values, i.e., aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), are quite low in patients undergoing chronic dialysis. In this paper we assessed, the serum transaminase values of 200 patients on chronic hemodialysis and found that their mean ±SD AST and ALT values were very low (12.5±6.0 and 10.9±6.0, respectively). To investigate the reason for these low transaminase values, we examined the sera of 10 patients with chronic renal failure who had normal liver function test results and no virus markers. Negative correlations were found between the serum creatinine and transaminase values (both AST and ALT). Comparison of serum transaminase levels in patients on chronic hemodialysis before and after dialysis, and a study of mixing the serum of normal subjects with normal renal function and with chronic renal failure patients after dialysis suggested that unknown uremic substances of an unexchangeable nature inhibit the activity of serum transaminase.
