Alpha Glutathione S-transferase – A Potential Biomarker for Intestinal Epithelial Damage in Infants with Acute Gastroenteritis

BACKGROUND: Acute gastroenteritis is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children under 3 years of age worldwide and mostly can be dangerous in the first 12 months of life especially in infants who are not exclusively breastfed. Intestinal pathogens cause enterocyte infection which leads to cell death, lumen extrusion, and intestinal villous atrophy. AIM: The aim of this study was to assess whether alpha glutathione S-transferase (α-GST) can be a biomarker for early intestinal epithelial damage in infants with acute gastroenteritis and the degree of correlation of its serum values with the degree of intestinal epithelial damage associated with infant nutrition. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 23 infants with acute gastroenteritis divided into two groups based on the feeding patterns (type of milk) were included in the study. The values of α-GST in serum between exclusively breastfed and non-exclusively breastfed infants were examined. RESULTS: It was found a statistically significant association between group affiliation and the α-GST levels in serum between the first and the second group (p = 0.002260). It was revealed that Rotavirus can cause erosion of the intestinal epithelium through the positive values of α-GST in Rotavirus positive cases. CONCLUSION: In this study, it was found that α-GST is a biomarker for early intestinal epithelial damage in infants primarily with Rotavirus acute gastroenteritis. α-GST serum values were significantly lower in infants who were exclusively breastfed compared with infants who were not exclusively breastfed.