Serum γ-glutamyltransferase is a predictor of incident coronary events in apparently healthy men from the general population

Objective To investigate whether serum γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT) is an independent predictor for incident coronary events in initially healthy men from the general population. Methods and results The study was based on 1878 men (aged 25–64 years) who participated in the first MONICA Augsburg survey 1984/1985, and who were free of coronary heart disease at baseline. Up to 2002 a total of 150 incident acute coronary events occurred. Baseline levels of GGT were higher in men who experienced an event than in event-free men (28.4 ± 2.0 units/l versus 22.4 ± 2.1 units/l, p 0.0002). GGT was highly correlated with other cardiovascular risk factors. In a Cox proportional hazards model after age adjustment hazard ratios (HR) for incident myocardial infarction across GGT quartiles (<13, 13 to <20, 20 to <35, and ≥35 units/l) were 1.0, 1.84, 2.02, and 3.08 (p for trend 0.0001). Further adjustment for hypertension, TC/HDL ratio, diabetes, smoking, physical activity, alcohol intake, education years and BMI attenuated the association; comparing the highest versus lowest quartile of GGT the HR for a first-ever coronary event was then 2.34 (95% CI, 1.23–4.44). Conclusions Serum GGT is a strong predictor of acute coronary events in apparently healthy men from the general population, independent of other risk factors for cardiovascular disease.