Correlation between Gamma Glutamyl Transferase (GGT) and bone quality

The following clinical study has the principal aim to verify the possible correlation between GGT fraction (gamma-glutamyltransferase) values and bone quality. We examined 93 Caucasian patients of both genders and aged between 60 and 85 years who were admitted to our Orthopaedic Unit with a diagnosis of hip osteoarthritis or proximal femoral fracture. Patients were divided in two main groups: Group A including patients who underwent total hip replacement because of hip arthritis and Group B including patients who underwent proximal femoral fracture ostheosynthesis by means of endomedullary nail, plate and screws or hip prosthesis. In all patients a preoperative blood sample was collected to obtain total and GGT fraction values. Furthermore, in all cases of hip prosthesis implantation, femoral head and neck were sampled. Femoral head was submitted to morphological analysis, while femoral neck was submitted to microCT analysis. The results were analysed to assess the possible correlation between abnormal GGT fraction values and bone quality. The final results were compared with data from literature.