Antithrombin-III as a Non-Invasive Marker of Chronic Liver Disease

Background and Aims: Recently, many studies have reported that the plasma concentrations of natural anticoagulants, such as Antithrombin-III (AT-III), are altered in patients with chronic liver disease. In addition, the changes in the synthesis of AT-III occur in liver tissue and are associated with the extent of chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis..Methods: In this study, we analyzed the plasma level of at-III and serum activity of aminotransferase in 60 participants: 20 patients with chronic hepatitis, 20 patients with cirrhosis, and 20 healthy individuals (controls)..Results: Low levels of AT-III and elevated levels of aminotransferase activity were associated with both chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis. We found that among patients with elevated gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) activity and chronic liver disease, the level of at III in plasma was significantly lower in patients with chronic cirrhosis than in patients with chronic hepatitis (P 0.05) and the level of ??-III in plasma was lower in patients with liver disease in comparison to healthy participants (P 0.001)..Conclusions: The level of AT-III in patients with chronic liver disease may be used as a non-invasive factor for the laboratory diagnosis of cirrhosis.