July - 2 - 2008 

A case-cohort evaluation of data from the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Postdam Study was conducted to prospectively determine the relationship between plasma gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) and alanine transaminase (ALT) levels and incident diabetes. Analysis of data from 787 patients with incident diabetes and 2,224 subjects with no diabetes found a significant association between incident diabetes and high plasma levels of GGT and ALT, even at concentrations still considered within the normal range of values. The adjusted hazard ratios for incident diabetes were highest in patients in the highest quintiles of GGT and ALT levels. The magnitude of the associations was higher in men than in women for GGT, and showed no significant gender differences for ALT (Ford, E.S. et al. Diabetes Care 2008, 31(6): 1138).