Hypertransaminasaemia in children with viral gastroenteritis

Abstract

We investigated the rates of increase in serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels of patients with rotavirus, norovirus and enteric adenovirus gastroenteritis. Two hundred children with viral gastroenteritis were evaluated for hypertransaminasaemia retrospectively. The patients were between 0 - 17 years (mean ± SD: 5.10 ± 3.01) of age. ALT was elevated up to 67 IU/L in 7 (8.5%) patients in the rotavirus group (n=82), whereas it was elevated in 3 (4.0%) and 1 (2.3%) patients in the norovirus (n=74) and adenovirus (n=44) groups, respectively. AST was elevated up to 89 IU/L in 20 (24.4%) patients in the rotavirus group, whereas it was elevated in 6 (8.1%) and 1 (2.3%) patients in the norovirus and adenovirus groups, respectively. Both transaminases were elevated in 7.3%, 1.4%, and 2.3% of patients in the rotavirus, norovirus, and adenovirus groups, respectively. The increases in ALT and AST levels were found to be significantly higher in the rotavirus group (n=27) than in the norovirus (n=9), and adenovirus group (n=2) (p<0.05). Mean serum ALT and AST levels in the rotavirus group were significantly higher than those in the norovirus and adenovirus group (p<0.05). Our study investigated the correlation between viral gastroenteritis and hypertransaminasaemia. When evaluating a patient with hypertransaminasaemia physicians should remember to consider acute gastroenteritis due to some viruses as a cause of elevated AST and ALT.