Association between serum γ-glutamyltranspeptidase and atherosclerosis: a population-based cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between serum γ-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) as an indicator for atherosclerosis in Japanese men and women after adjusting for fatty liver. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SETTING: A health check-up centre in Japan. PARTICIPANTS: 912 Japanese men and women aged 24–84 years recruited from people who received a medical health check-up programme with a standardised questionnaire and an automatic waveform analyser to measure baPWV. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We measured serum GGT concentrations and baPWV. Fatty liver was diagnosed by standardised criteria using abdominal ultrasonography. The postmenopausal state was defined as beginning 1 year after the cessation of menses. RESULTS: In women, log(2) GGT was positively associated with baPWV (β=0.11, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.19, p<0.05), independent of age, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, triglycerides, estimated glomerular filtration rate, fatty liver, menopausal state and parameters of lifestyles. However, in men, the positive association of log(2) GGT with baPWV was not significant (β=−0.04, 95% CI −0.10 to 0.03, p=0.28) in multivariable linear regression analyses. CONCLUSIONS: The serum GGT level was associated with baPWV, independently of covariates including fatty liver or menopausal state just in women, but not in men.