Activity of the Enzyme Gamma-Glutamyl Transferase (GGT) as a Prognostic Tool for Heart Failures

Heart failure (HF) incidence could cause further complications to other body organs, which might sometimes be fatal, and is accompanied by various biochemical alterations i.e. enzymatic changes. The objective of this study was to measure the activity of gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) as an early diagnostic indicator for HF patients; and to isolate the iso-enzymes for the purpose of finding the Michaelis-Menten constant (Km) and the maximum velocity Vmax of each iso-enzymes which enable follow up the development of HF disease. Samples of blood sera were collected from 120 patients of both genders (70 males and 50 female, aged 30 - 38 years old). Partial purification of iso-enzyme GGT was performed by precipitation, gel filtration, and ion exchange of the two iso-enzyme (I and II). The purity of the enzyme was confirmed by using Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacryl amide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) into two clear bands. The results were compared with other 80 samples of healthy volunteers whose ages ranged between 25 - 78 years old, used as control. There has been a significant increase (p ≤ 0.01) in the activity of the enzyme GGT in the heart failure patient (66.9 ± 1.7 IU/L) in comparison with control (12.07 ± 0.60 IU/L). It is concluded that measurements of the iso-enzyme GGT could well benefit as a clear indicator criteria in prognosis of heart failure.