Creatine kinase activities in sera of cirrhotics.

Sir, Creatine Kinase (CK) E.C. 2.7.3.2. is separable into three different isoenzymes by a number of methods. Each isoenzyme is a dimer composed of two subunits (Bor M) each having a relative molecular mass of 40,000. These isoenzymes are widely distributed in tissues, CK-MM and CK-MB are found mainly in the skeletal and heart muscles and CK-BB in G.l. tract and the brain with small amounts also found in the kidneys, lungs and the liver . In recent years many investigators have discussed diagnostic and clinical significance of CK-iso enzymes in acute myocardial infarction. In the last few years, a number of case reports have appeared that deal with the presence of CK-BB or Macro CK and CK-MB in sera of patients with malignancies thought to be produced by neoplastic cells . These reports stimulated us to study CK-levels in histologically proven cirrhotics to screen for abnormal values of CK if any. We evaluated total CK and CK activities after Immunoinhibition of the M moiety to determine CK-MB or CK-BB values. In a total of thirty cases we found that total CK values were higher than normal controls though within the normal range (Table 1).