Serum gamma-glutamyl transferase is associated with silent brain infarcts in a healthy population

Although there is substantial evidence that serum gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) is associated with cerebrovascular diseases, its role in silent brain infarcts (SBIs) has not been addressed. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between serum GGT and the presence of SBI in a neurologically healthy population.

We evaluated a consecutive series of healthy volunteers recruited between January 2006 and December 2013. We conducted broad examinations in the form of health check-ups, which included brain magnetic resonance imaging and laboratory examinations including assessment of GGT levels. SBI was defined as asymptomatic, well-defined lesions with a dimeter of ≥3 mm with the same signal characteristics as cerebrospinal fluid on T1- or T2-weighted images.

A total of 3145 healthy subjects were assessed, and 260 SBI cases were identified. In multivariate analysis, the highest GGT tertile was independently associated with SBI [adjusted OR (aOR) = 1.48, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.02 to 2.15, p = 0.040] in a dose-response manner (p for trend = 0.037). Age and hypertension were also found to be significant factors for SBI. In a stratified analysis by sex, these positive associations of GGT levels with SBI became more prominent in the male group (aOR = 2.14, 95% CI = 1.15 to 4.00, p = 0.017), with a significantly increasing trend (p for trend = 0.028), while there was no association among female participants.

Increased serum GGT levels were found to be associated with higher SBI prevalence in a neurologically healthy population.