Serum mitochondrial aspartate aminotransferase activity: not useful as a marker of excessive alcohol consumption in an unselected population

Using an immunochemical method, we measured the activity of the mitochondrial isoenzyme (mAST) of aspartate amino-transferase (EC 2.6.1.1, AST) in the serum of 687 subjects attending the Centre for Preventive Medicine for a health examination. The distributions of the activities were asymmetrical, with mean values of 1.8 U/L (SD 2.0) for men and 1.4 U/L (SD 1.6) for women. The average ratio of mitochondrial to total AST activity was 0.051 (range 0-0.42). In this unselected population we found no change in the mitochondrial activity or in the mitochondrial-to-total ratio attributable to alcohol consumption, even in subjects who consumed more than 88 g per day. Of 35 men with an alcohol consumption greater than 88 g/d, 19 had a serum gamma-glutamyltransferase activity of greater than or equal to 60 U/L, 17 had glutamate dehydrogenase values greater than or equal to 5 U/L, and only nine had an mAST activity greater than or equal to 3 U/L (values corresponding to the 80th percentiles of the total population). We conclude that the test is not particularly useful as a screening procedure in an unselected population under present-day conditions of measurement.