Monocyte arylhydrocarbon hydroxylase activity and mortality

Monocyte arylhydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) activity is decreased in patients with liver disease and correlates with severity of disease. Patients with chronic liver disease (n = 34) were studied to determine if decreased monocyte AHH activity is associated with mortality. Monocyte AHH activity in the nonsurvivor group was 0.07 +/- 0.025 nmol/mgP/h (n = 11) and was significantly lower than the survivor group 0.198 +/- 0.031 (n = 23). Both groups were significantly lower than controls 0.41 +/- 0.053 (n = 19). Of the liver function tests, only serum albumin was different between the survivor group and the nonsurvivor group. Patients in the nonsurvivor group had significantly higher Child-Turcotte scores than the survivor group. These results suggest that the monocyte AHH activity may be a good index of survival in patients with liver disease, but the high degree of overlap between survivors and nonsurvivors suggests otherwise.