Plasma xanthine oxidoreductase tied to liver transaminase level in T2DM patients

Among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), plasma levels of xanthine oxidoreductase (XOR) share a close relationship with circulating levels of liver transaminases, a new study has found. This interaction suggests that XOR may find use as an indicator of liver damage in these patients.

The study included 28 T2DM patients (mean age, 63.4 years; 10 males) who were scheduled to undergo diabetes treatment. Triple quadrupole mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography were performed to measure plasma XOR activity. The outcome of interest was the interaction between changes in XOR and clinical parameters.

Unadjusted analyses revealed that plasma XOR was associated with factors such as body weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and liver enzyme, including aspartate (AST) and alanine (ALT) transaminase.

Over 2 weeks of hospitalization, participants lost a significant mean weight of 1.3 kg (p<0.0001), which coincided with similar improvements in clinical parameters, including plasma glucose, glycated haemoglobin, and hs-CRP.

At the same time, plasma XOR also slightly but significantly decreased (p=0.041). A trend in decreasing ALT and AST was also observed.

Stepwise multiple regression showed that change in the log of AST over 2 weeks of hospitalization was the only significant and independent correlate of the change in the log of plasma XOR activity (R, 0.82; p<0.0001).

“[T]he present results showed a close relationship between plasma XOR activity and circulating levels of liver transaminases in patients with T2DM, cross-sectionally and across hospitalized treatment, suggesting that plasma XOR reflects liver damage in patients with diabetes,” the researchers said.