— Christine M. Kukka, Project Manager, HBV Advocate
Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) is an enzyme
produced by liver cells. When liver cells are damaged by HBV infection,
ALT levels in the blood increase above normal—but what really is
normal?
Several years ago, researchers
discovered they had pegged “normal” ALT levels too high, and
established new, healthy ALT normal levels at up to 30 international
units per liter (IU/L) for men and 19 IU/L for women. But a report
published in the December issue of Hepatology Research, suggests that figure should be tweaked.
Japanese researchers analyzed
ALT levels in 11,404 healthy adults and then weeded out subjects whose
ALT levels could be affected by older age, weight, diabetes, and high
cholesterol.
When only the healthiest adult subjects were evaluated, the new “healthy” ALT was 29 IU/L for men and 23 IU/L for women.
Labels: ALT levels
