Which lyase is clinically significant?

Which lyase is clinically significant?

• A. Aldolase
• B. Citrate lyase
• C. Malate synthase
• D. Pyruvate lyase

Answer: (A)

Aldolase is the lyase with clinical significance because it plays a key role in glycolysis by breaking fructose-1,6-bisphosphate into two triose phosphates. In humans, serum aldolase can rise when muscle tissue is damaged or diseased, making it a useful, though nonspecific, clinical marker for muscle injury (and occasionally liver or other tissue damage). The other enzymes listed are not typically present in humans in a form that is measured clinically: malate synthase is part of a glyoxylate cycle found in microbes and plants, not human metabolism; citrate lyase and pyruvate lyase are not standard diagnostic enzymes in human clinics. Thus aldolase stands out as the clinically relevant lyase.

Aldolase is the lyase with clinical significance because it plays a key role in glycolysis by breaking fructose-1,6-bisphosphate into two triose phosphates. In humans, serum aldolase can rise when muscle tissue is damaged or diseased, making it a useful, though nonspecific, clinical marker for muscle injury (and occasionally liver or other tissue damage). The other enzymes listed are not typically present in humans in a form that is measured clinically: malate synthase is part of a glyoxylate cycle found in microbes and plants, not human metabolism; citrate lyase and pyruvate lyase are not standard diagnostic enzymes in human clinics. Thus aldolase stands out as the clinically relevant lyase.