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Reference ranges (reference intervals) for blood tests are sets of values used by a health professional to interpret a set of medical test results from blood samples. Reference ranges for blood tests are studied within the field of clinical chemistry (also known as "clinical biochemistry", "chemical pathology" or "pure blood chemistry"), the ...
Alanine transaminase (ALT), also known as alanine aminotransferase (ALT or ALAT), formerly serum glutamate-pyruvate transaminase (GPT) or serum glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (SGPT), is a transaminase enzyme (EC 2.6.1.2) that was first characterized in the mid-1950s by Arthur Karmen and colleagues. [1]
The proportion of AST to ALT in hepatocytes is about 2.5:1, but because AST is removed from serum by the liver sinusoidal cells twice as quickly (serum half-life t 1/2 = 18 hr) compared to ALT (t 1/2 = 36 hr), so the resulting serum levels of AST and ALT are about equal in healthy individuals, resulting in a normal AST/ALT ratio around 1.
Liver function tests (LFTs or LFs), also referred to as a hepatic panel or liver panel, are groups of blood tests that provide information about the state of a patient's liver. [1] These tests include prothrombin time (PT/INR), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), albumin , bilirubin (direct and indirect), and others.
ALT is usually found only in the liver. AST is most commonly found in the liver, but also in significant amounts in heart and skeletal muscle. [citation needed] Measurement of ALT and AST were used in diagnosing heart attacks, although they have been replaced by newer enzyme and protein tests that are more specific for cardiac damage.
In the largest study published to date, featuring over 12,000 data sets, Figge, Bellomo and Egi [18] demonstrated that the anion gap, when used to detect critical levels of lactate (greater than 4 mEq/L), exhibited a sensitivity of only 70.4%. In contrast, the albumin-corrected anion gap demonstrated a sensitivity of 93.0%.
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Concentrations below the reference range usually reflect low albumin concentration, for instance in liver disease or acute infection. Rarely, low total protein may be a sign of immunodeficiency. Concentrations above the reference range are found in paraproteinaemia, Hodgkin's lymphoma, leukaemia or any condition causing an increase in ...