What do my ast and alt numbers mean?

These letters are acronyms for enzymes - proteins inside of cells. AST for example stands for aspartate amino transferase. This enzyme used to be called serum glutamic oxalacetic transaminase (SGOT), hence the two names. ALT = amino alanine transferase, GGTP= gamma glutamyl transpeptidase, and AP= alkaline phosphatase. Different cells have different enzymes inside them, depending on the function of the cell. Liver cells happen to have lots of AST, ALT, and GGTP inside them. When cells die or are sick the enzymes leak out causing the blood level of these enzymes to rise, which is a way of determining if the cells in question are sick. ALT is more specific for liver disease than AST because AST is made in more places (e.g. heart, intestine, muscle). So the AST will rise after a heart attack or bruised kidney. GGTP and AP are said to be more specific for biliary disease since they are made in bile duct cells. In liver disease caused by excess alcohol ingestion, the AST tends to exceed the ALT, while the reverse is true to for viral hepatitis. However, this particular generalization is often wrong!

AST (aspartate aminotransferase) is also called SGOT (Serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase) and ALT (alanine aminotransferase) also called SGPT (Serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase), are enzymes that are normally present in liver and heart cells. SGOT and SGPT are released into blood when the liver or heart is damaged. The blood levels are thus elevated with liver damage (for example, from viral hepatitis) or with an insult to the heart (for example, from a heart attack). Some medications can also raise these levels. Therefore they are sensitive indicators of liver damage from different types of disease. But it must be emphasized that higher-than-normal levels of these liver enzymes should not be automatically equated with liver disease. They may mean liver problems or they may not. Only your doctor can determine this and do further testing to determine the cause of damage.

Hope this helps,

Susu