Lifestyle and serum gamma-glutamyltransferase: a study of middle-aged Japanese men

The association of lifestyle factors with serum gamma-glutamyltransferase ( GGT) was examined in 1176 Japanese male office workers aged 40-59 years. Th ose who had serum aminotransferase levels exceeding the normal range and/or who took prescription medication for, or had a past history of, liver dise ase were excluded. From the logistic regression analysis, lifestyle factors showing a positive association with high serum GGT (greater than or equal to 60 U/l) were body mass index, alcohol intake, cigarette smoking, and sna cking between meals. On the other hand, coffee drinking showed an inverse a ssociation with high serum GGT. As for the relationships between snacking b etween meals and other lifestyle factors, snacking between meals was signif icantly related to alcohol intake (negative) and coffee drinking. Influence s of snacking between meals on serum GGT are likely to be indirectly mediat ed through coping mechanisms of less alcohol drinking and more coffee drink ing. Our findings support the conclusions that alcohol drinking, obesity, a nd cigarette smoking are positively associated with raised serum GGT and th at coffee consumption is inversely related to raised serum GGT.