Antioxidant status and lipid peroxidation activity in evaluating hepatocellular damage in children.

Serum levels of glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione S-transferase-alpha (GST-alpha) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were determined to evaluate their use in diagnosing hepatocellular damage in 75 children with liver disease. Except for level of GR in patients with HBV, GR, GST-alpha and MDA were raised significantly in patients compared with controls. At 100% specificity, the sensitivity of the 3 markers for detecting hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus and schistosomiasis infection respectively were: 16.7%, 100.0% and 17.7% for GR; 33.3%, 62.1% and 38.2% for GST-alpha; and 25.0%, 10.3% and 29.4% for MDA. GR was more sensitive in hepatitis C infection, while MDA reflected changes in liver ultrasound and GST-alpha was the best indicator for histopathological changes.