Serum cholinesterase as liver function test in cirrhotic patients at Soba Teaching hospital, Khartoum, Sudan

Abstract

It is suggested that plasma cholinesterase level is affected by liver cirrhosis due to hepatocyte injury. The objective of this study was to determine cholinesterase values in association with albumin and prothrombin during both the compensated and decompensated stages in cirrhotic patients. A total of 150 consecutive episodes of liver cirrhotic patients, aged (68.9 ± 10 years) admitted to the hospital between June 2015 and December 2015 were studied. They were classified into subgroups according to severity and the stages of disease into group A (compensated stage) and group B (decompensated stage), each containing 75 patients. Fifty apparently healthy participants aged 64.5 ± 13 years were recruited as controls. Blood samples were drawn and targeted parameters were assessed using commercial kits according to the manufacturer’s guide. SPSS package was used for data analysis. There was a significant difference in the mean serum cholinesterase activity, albumin level and prothrombin time of cases and controls. The mean serum cholinesterase value of compensated cirrhotic patients was 3143.83 ± 1583.44 IU/L and it was significantly higher (p = 0.000) than that of decompensated cirrhotic patients (1895.32 ± 531.79 IU/L). There was a strong negative correlation between serum cholinesterase activity and prothrombin time (r = -0.580, p = 0.000) and a strong positive correlation between serum cholinesterase activity and albumin concentration (r = 0.617, p = 0.00). The results conclude that, cholinesterase level reflects liver cell conditions wherein low levels indicate hepatocellular damage. In addition, its levels are stable and not easily affected by medications that are given for cirrhotic patients thus, can be used as a marker for the diagnosis and prognosis of liver damage along with prothrombin time and albumin.

Keywords: Cirrhosis, liver function tests, serum cholinesterase, albumin, prothombin time.