Serum cholinesterase in patients with fatty liver.

In search of a practical biochemical test that will reflect hepatic steatosis, we assessed the significance of serum cholinesterase activity in 48 patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver, 16 obese subjects without fatty liver, 30 cases of chronic persistent hepatitis, 38 cases of chronic active hepatitis, and 20 cases of liver cirrhosis. Increased cholinesterase activity was observed in nonobese as well as obese patients with fatty liver, whereas obese subjects without fatty liver showed levels in the upper normal range. When we set a cutoff level above the upper normal limit, half of the patients with fatty liver showed values above it, with only a few overlaps with other patients. When obese patients with fatty liver took a low-caloric diet, cholinesterase activity decreased, clearly reflecting improvement of hepatic steatosis. Thus, measurement of cholinesterase activity is of diagnostic value and an alternative to computed tomography in hepatic steatosis, and will provide a practical measure for the assessment of effects during follow-up.