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纽约路透社健康栏目12月13日消息：以色列研究人员报道，低水平的谷丙转氨酶（alanine aminotransferase ，ALT）对于居住于社区的老年男性而言是一个高死亡率的标志，女性则不存在这一现象。

耶路撒冷老年医学研究所的Dr. Eran Elinav和其同事对455名均为70岁的有活动能力的男性和女性进行了为期12年的跟踪研究，记录包括多方面的基本医疗史和社会史，并进行体格及其他检查，还包括每年一次的死亡率统计。

女性的ALT水平正常为11.00 U/L，男性为13.00 U/L。在《Journal of American Geriatric Society》十一月份期刊上调查人员报导，12年后女性的生存率为78%，并且他们的ALT水平低于或高于正常值。

但是对男性而言，ALT水平低于正常值的人群中生存率为54%，高于正常值的则为65%（p < 0.001）。这一死亡风险并不依赖于一些普通的风险因素。Dr. Elinav的小组发现如果将性别和年龄共同考虑的话，低ALT水平的男性的危险比（hazard ratio）是2.42。

研究人员补充道，由于无法区别ALT是作为未知肝病的致死标志还是作为整体衰老和死亡的标志，因此研究的结论有一定的局限。尽管存在种种局限性，他们依然认为ALT可以被证实作为普遍使用而且廉价的预测工具。

Low ALT Levels Linked With Mortality Risk in Elderly Men

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Dec 13 - Low levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels are a marker for increased mortality in elderly men living in the community, Israeli researchers report, but the same is not true for women.

A sample of 455 ambulatory men and women, all 70 years old, were followed for 12 years by Dr. Eran Elinav of The Jerusalem Institute for Geriatric Research and colleagues. An extensive baseline medical and social history was taken, physical and ancillary examinations were performed, and mortality data were collected annually.

The median ALT level was 11.00 U/L for women and 13.00 U/L for men. The 12-year survival was 78% for women with ALT levels below or above the median, the investigators report in the November issue of the Journal of the American Geriatric Society.

For men, however, the 12-year survival rate was 54% for those with ALT levels below the median and 65% for those with levels above the median (p < 0.001). The mortality risk was independent of several common risk factors. Dr. Elinav's group found that when gender and age were considered together, the hazard ratio was 2.42 for men with low ALT levels.

"Lack of differentiation between ALT as a marker of mortality due to unrecognized liver disease or a marker of global aging and overall mortality" limits the study conclusions, the researchers add. Despite this and other limitations, they conclude that ALT may prove to be a widely available, inexpensive prognostic tool.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/549302

编辑：蓝色幻想