Association between serum γ-glutamyltranspeptidase and atherosclerosis: a population-based cross-sectional study

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between serum γ-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) as an indicator for atherosclerosis in Japanese men and women after adjusting for fatty liver. Design: A cross-sectional study. Setting: A health check-up centre in Japan. Participants: 912 Japanese men and women aged 24–84 years recruited from people who received a medical health check-up programme with a standardised questionnaire and an automatic waveform analyser to measure baPWV. Main outcome measures: We measured serum GGT concentrations and baPWV. Fatty liver was diagnosed by standardised criteria using abdominal ultrasonography. The postmenopausal state was defined as beginning 1 year after the cessation of menses. Results: In women, log2 GGT was positively associated with baPWV (β=0.11, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.19, p<0.05), independent of age, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, triglycerides,...