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In this study, the importance of urinary N-acetyl β-u glucosaminidase (NAG) as an index of renal injury was assessed inpatients with liver cirrhosis.
The study was carried out on 14 cirrhotic patients without primary renal disease or who did not receive my nephrotoxic agents. Twelve age and sex matched people were used as control group. The etiology of liver disease was HBV in 10, HCV in 4. Ten of the patients were classified as Child A, 3 as Child B and 2 as Child C according to Child-Pugh classification. Serum creatinine (SCr), urinary sodium level (UNa), urinary NAG level in 24-hour urine specimen and creatinine clearance (CCr) were determined.
There were no statistically significant changes in SCr, CCr and UNa level in the cirrhotic patients as compared to the control group (2.4±0.84;0.2±0.09: p<0.000). However, NAG enzymuria in the cirrhotic patients was statistically higher than normal controls. Urinary NAG activity was markedly correlated to the degree of liver damage (r:0.72, p<0.01).
These preliminary results suggested that urinary NAG activity was a useful index for early diagnosis of renal tubular injury in the cirrhotic patients.