1981 Volume 22 Issue 5 Pages 621-625
The serum alkaline RNase levels of 159 patients with liver diseases and 28 apparently healthy persons were determined using yeast RNA as substrate. The mean values with standard deviation were 20.2±6.0 units in acute hepatitis, 20.4±3.9 in chronic hepatitis, 22.3±6.4 in liver cirrhosis and 32.9±14.6 in hepatoma, and these values were significantly higher than 15.5±2.3 units in healthy individuals (p<0.01). The enzyme levels between liver disease groups were not staristically different, but a much higher serum RNase activity was observed in hepatoma (p<0.001).
The activity of serum RNase did not correlate with those of GOT, LDH and AlP in these disease states, there was however an inverse relationship between serum albumin and RNase levels (p<0.001), suggesting that serum alkaline RNase in patient with liver disease provides a good criterion of the protein metabolism, but not the hepatocellular damage nor hepatic dysfunction.
