Multivariate analysis of an enzymic profile for the differential diagnosis of viral hepatitis.

Differential diagnosis of acute viral hepatitis, persistent chronic hepatitis, aggressive chronic hepatitis, and post-necrotic cirrhosis can reasonably be achieved on the basis of three well-known liver-function tests: aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and glutamate dehydrogenase. With use of principal-component analysis, these four liver diseases can be characterized by two criteria: a "cytolytic" criterion, correlated particularly with a membrane-permeability test--namely, alanine aminotransferase activity--and a "mitochondrial damage" criterion, which is associated with above-normal ornithine carbamyltransferase and glutamate dehydrogenase activities.