Studies evaluating xanthine oxidoreductase (XOR) activities in comprehensive liver diseases are scarce, and different etiologies have previously been combined in groups for comparison. To accurately evaluate XOR activities in liver diseases, the plasma XOR activities in etiology-based comprehensive liver diseases were measured using a novel, sensitive, and accurate assay that is a combination of liquid chromatography and triple quadrupole mass spectrometry to detect [13C2, 15N2]uric acid using [13C2, 15N2]xanthine as a substrate. We also mainly evaluated the association between the plasma XOR activities and parameters of liver tests, purine metabolism-associated markers, oxidative stress markers, and an inflammation marker. In total, 329 patients and 32 controls were enrolled in our study. Plasma XOR activities were generally increased in liver diseases, especially in the active phase, such as in patients with hepatitis C virus RNA positivity, those with abnormal alanine transaminase (ALT) levels in autoimmune liver diseases, and uncured hepatocellular carcinoma patients. Plasma XOR activities were numerically highest in patients with acute hepatitis B. Plasma XOR activities were closely correlated with parameters of liver tests, especially serum ALT levels, regardless of etiology and plasma xanthine levels. Our results indicated that plasma XOR activity might reflect the active phase in various liver diseases.
Keywords: alanine aminotransferase; etiology; inflammation; liver disease; oxidative stress; xanthine; xanthine oxidoreductase.