Background/aims: There is a histologic similarity between nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and alcoholic liver disease and in some cases differential diagnosis may be difficult, since some patients do not report abusive alcohol consumption.
Objective: Evaluating the usefulness of setting the rate AST/ALT for the differential diagnosis of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and alcoholic liver disease.
Patients and methods: Twenty nine obese patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis were compared with 28 patients with alcoholic liver disease. The diagnosis of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis was made after exclusion of other causes of liver disease and by histologic findings of, at least, macrovesicular steatosis and hepatocellular necrosis.
Results: In patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis the medium AST value was 52.3 +/- 21.2 U/L and ALT of 90.1 +/- 37.9 U/L, being the AST/ALT rate lower than 1 in all patients. In patients with alcoholic liver disease the medium AST value was 140 +/- 82.5 U/L and ALT was 50.6 +/- 40.3 U/L. The rate was higher than 1 in all cases and higher than 2 in 24 (85.7%), being statistically significant when compared with patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.
Conclusion: The AST/ALT rate seems to be useful in the differential diagnosis of liver diseases, while lower than 1 is highly suggestive of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.