Glutathione S-transferase A1 (GSTA1) release, an early indicator of acute hepatic injury in mice

•GSTA1 can predict early diagnosis for acute hepatic injury.•Time–response and dose–response studies on three injury models were employed to compare the indicators GSTA1 and ALT.•The serum GSTA1 is detectable early and at a low concentration in acute hepatic injury.•Early detection of GSTA1 is an accurate and sensitive indicator of acute hepatic injury. Three acute hepatic injury models (a CCl4-induced model, APAP-induced model and ethanol-induced model) in mice were used to study the importance of GSTA1 in acute hepatic injury by comparison with a standard enzyme marker, alanine aminotransferase (ALT). GSTA1 release was demonstrated to be an earlier and more sensitive indicator of hepatotoxicity than was ALT. Significant increases in GSTA1 were detected at 2h after CCl4 exposure, while ALT was undetected at this time. GSTA1 was also a more sensitive indicator of hepatotoxicity than ALT after 6h. In the APAP and ethanol models, GSTA1 was markedly increased earlier than ALT, at 2h post exposure. The release of GSTA1 was significantly increased at a dose of 12.5mg/kg (CCl4 model), 100mg/kg (APAP model) and 10ml/kg (ethanol model), the lowest exposure concentration for each model. In contrast, AST release was not statistically significant. These results suggest that GSTA1 can be detected at low concentrations during the early stages of acute hepatic injury and that GSTA1 is a more sensitive and more accurate indicator than ALT.