ALT; An Indicator of Hepatic Involvement in Dengue Infection

Abstract

Background: Dengue infection, a major public health problem, affects all body systems including hepatobiliary system that can be assessed by measuring serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels. The objective of this study was to compare the extent of hepatic involvement in the patients of dengue fever (DF) with that of the patients of dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) by comparing mean ALT levels and degree of rise in serum ALT levels in patients of both groups, DF and DHF. Methods: A comparative analytical study was carried out at Department of Infectious Diseases, Holy Family Hospital from September 2016 to December 2016. A total of 184 seropositive dengue patients were taken using non-randomized consecutive sampling technique; 92 patients having DF and 92 patients having DHF. Blood samples for ALT levels were taken within 24 hours of diagnosis of DF and DHF. SPSS version 22 was used to analyse the data. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the mean ALT levels and Chi-Square test at 5% significance level was applied to compare the degree of rise in serum ALT levels in both groups. Results: In this comparative analytical study, 184(42 females and 142males) seropositive dengue patients were included. The mean serum ALT level in patients of DF was 85.43(±58.685) while mean ALT levels in patients of DHF was 167.76(±155.656), (p=0.00).The degree of serum ALT rise in DHF patients was significantly higher than that of DF patients (p=0.00). Conclusion: The extent of hepatic damage is more in dengue haemorrhagic fever as compared to uncomplicated dengue fever.

Keywords

• dengue fever
• dengue haemorrhagic fever
• alanine aminotransferase