Serum gamma-glutamyl transferase levels are associated with metabolic syndrome in community-dwelling individuals.

Aim: Serum gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) activity changes in response to oxidative stress. Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with an increased risk of major cardiovascular events. Few data are available on the association between serum GGT and the prevalence of MetS among community-dwelling individuals in Japan.

Association between serum gamma-glutamyl transferase level and prehypertension among community-dwelling men.

Serum gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) activity is a general clinical marker of excessive alcohol consumption, and GGT reflects changes in oxidative stress and implicated in the progression of hypertension. Recent guidelines classify persons with above-optimal blood pressure (BP) but not clinical hypertension as having prehypertension for a systolic BP (SBP) of 120 to 139 mmHg and/or a diastolic BP (DBP) of 80 to 89 mmHg; however, only limited data are available on the association between serum GGT and this entity among community-dwelling men in Japan. We performed a cross-sectional study to examine whether serum GGT was associated with prehypertension.