High Prevalence of Elevated Alanine Aminotransferase in American Indian Children Seen in a Pediatric Weight Management Clinic

Kalyan Ray Parashette; Kathryn E Coakley; Alberta S Kong; Elizabeth Y Jimenez; Sylvia Negrete

doi:10.14309/ajg.0000000000002711

High Prevalence of Elevated Alanine Aminotransferase in American Indian Children Seen in a Pediatric Weight Management Clinic

Am J Gastroenterol. 2024 Mar 28. doi: 10.14309/ajg.0000000000002711. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Kalyan Ray Parashette¹, Kathryn E Coakley², Alberta S Kong³, Elizabeth Y Jimenez^{2

3}, Sylvia Negrete³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Loma Linda, California, USA.
² College of Population Health, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
³ Department of Pediatrics, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

PMID: 38314813
DOI: 10.14309/ajg.0000000000002711

Abstract

Introduction: Elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) can indicate risk of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease. However, there is little data about the prevalence of elevated ALT in American Indian (AI) children.

Methods: Baseline data from children attending the pediatric weight management clinic were used to describe the prevalence of elevated ALT, stratified by race and ethnicity.

Results: The prevalence of elevated ALT was higher among children who were male, were older, had higher body mass index Z scores, and were non-Hispanic and AI.

Discussion: In this clinic, AI children with overweight and obesity had a disproportionately high prevalence of elevated ALT; root causes of this disparity should be identified.