Endogenous and postheparin monoglyceride hydrolase in plasma of patients with acute virus hepatitis.

Endogenous and postheparin monoglyceride hydrolase (MGH) was studied in 9 patients with acute virus hepatitis and in 25 normal subjects with the use of a new spectrophotometric method. During the 4 weeks of observation the patients had significantly higher endogenous and reduced postheparin MGH levels if compared with the controls (p smaller than 0.001). In the initial phase of hepatitis the alterations were more pronounced and the serum glyceride concentration was raised. The results show that MGM activities in plasma may be greatly influenced by the liver.