Nowadays, medical checkups are becoming more and more popular, and many people find elevated glutathione after having blood tests. What is ALT, does a high level mean a liver problem, and what should be done if it is persistently high? Principle of ALT test The continuous monitoring method for measuring serum ALT activity uses an enzyme coupled reaction in which L-alanine and α-ketoglutarate are catalyzed by ALT to produce pyruvate and L-glutamate. Pyruvate is then catalyzed by LDH to produce L-lactic acid, while NADH is oxidized to NAD+. The rate of decrease in absorbance at 340 nm can be continuously monitored to calculate the ALT activity concentration. Causes of elevated ALT 1. Serum ALT (alanine aminotransferase, ALT or GPT) is an essential “catalyst” in the human metabolic process and is mainly found in the liver, heart and skeletal muscle, mainly in hepatocytes. The concentration of ALT in hepatocytes is 1000-3000 times higher than in serum. As little as 1% of hepatocytes are necrotic, the serum ALT can be doubled. Therefore, ALT is an important indicator of liver function. The normal reference range is 0-40 U/L. When liver cells are damaged by inflammation, necrosis or poisoning, ALT will be released into the blood, causing the serum ALT to rise. 2, do not panic when you find elevated ALT. For healthy people, an elevated or reduced ALT level within the normal range does not mean that there is something wrong with the liver, because ALT is very sensitive and healthy people will have fluctuations in ALT levels when they are checked at different times of the day. For example, strenuous exercise, overexertion or having recently eaten fatty foods. If you work late the night before the ALT test and did not sleep well, the test result may also be outside the normal range. 3.If the physical examination reveals elevated ALT, you should first see if the physical examination precautions are done, including: don’t eat too greasy or spicy food the night before and don’t drink alcohol; try not to do physical exercise or strenuous exercise that morning; whether the examination is done at least 7 days after the cold is cured, because the cold may affect the liver function test results. 4. If the precautions are okay, you should review the test again to rule out errors due to factors such as laboratory equipment failure and operating errors. Connection between elevated ALT and other diseases 1.If the transaminase level is still high after retesting, other tests should be done to find the cause of elevation with comprehensive analysis of medical history, symptoms and signs. 2.Usually, viral hepatitis is the most common cause, all kinds of acute and chronic viral hepatitis can lead to ALT elevation, and ALT will also be elevated when viral hepatitis. In addition, a large number or long-term alcohol drinkers ALT will also be elevated, cirrhosis and liver cancer cirrhosis activity, ALT will be higher than normal levels. It should be especially noted that for some patients with heavy viral hepatitis, the amount of ALT released into the blood is small because there are fewer surviving hepatocytes, and the serum ALT will instead decrease significantly as the disease worsens. 3, However, ALT is not organ-specific, which means that changes in ALT are not necessarily caused by liver problems. Many diseases can cause it to increase. For example, in heart diseases such as acute myocardial infarction, myocarditis and heart failure, ALT is often elevated, but at this time, glutamate transaminase is usually also elevated, and patients often have chest pain, palpitations, shortness of breath, swelling, positive signs in cardiac examination and abnormal ECG, which can make differential diagnosis. Secondly, patients with biliary obstructive diseases such as gallstones may also have elevated ALT levels in the blood due to biliary stasis. Certain infectious diseases, such as pneumonia, typhoid, tuberculosis, and infectious mononucleosis, can have elevated ALT. Persistently high ALT must be taken seriously The main danger of high ALT is the damage to the patient’s liver, leading to a reduction in liver metabolism and detoxification capacity, so that drug metabolism and body toxins are not discharged in a timely manner, thus further aggravating the burden on the liver. It can be said that this is a vicious circle, if not stopped, the consequences of the development of its condition is quite serious. Liver damage is mainly manifested in several aspects: 1, alcoholic liver. Alcoholic liver patients who drink a lot of alcohol can lead to a transient increase in ALT, the damage to the damaged liver is very serious, the continuous damage to the liver may lead to the occurrence of cirrhosis, liver ascites, upper gastrointestinal bleeding, liver coma and other serious complications, life-threatening. 2.Cirrhosis of the liver and liver cancer. Continuous ALT elevation often indicates that the condition is deteriorating, which can endanger the patient’s life if not treated in time. 3.Viral hepatitis. Persistently elevated ALT often indicates inflammatory activity in the liver and is accompanied by liver damage, which requires appropriate treatment. Otherwise, the metabolism and detoxification ability of liver cells will be reduced, which in turn will allow drugs and toxins to remain in the body and further accelerate liver cell damage. How to pay attention to diet ALT high patients should pay special attention to two points: First, the diet should be light and easy to digest. Since high ALT can cause liver and bile gas imbalance and weaken metabolic function, food that is stimulating to the liver and not easy to digest will not only increase the burden on the liver, but also be detrimental to recovery. Second, the diet should be diversified and balanced, pay attention to the appropriate amount of high-quality protein, vitamins and trace elements, such as soy products, dairy products, fresh vegetables and fruits, fungal foods, etc., to improve their resistance, assist in lowering enzymes, repair damaged liver cells are very beneficial. There are three taboos in the diet of patients with high ALT that should be paid special attention to: 1. Avoid eating animal liver. Liver as a detoxification organ, some toxic substances will also be accumulated in the liver. In addition, the cholesterol content in the liver is very high, 100 grams of pig liver contains cholesterol up to 400 mg, a large intake of animal liver will increase the burden on the liver. 2, avoid drinking alcohol. The nitrosamines in alcohol can degenerate liver lipids and cause cancer. In addition, alcohol contains acetaldehyde and ethanol two components of the liver damage, suffering from infectious hepatitis and cirrhosis of the liver drinking alcohol can easily lead to the recurrence of hepatitis, liver failure, and even the development of liver cancer. 3, avoid raw and cold. This kind of patients originally have insufficient vital energy and weak spleen and stomach, so cold food will cause gastrointestinal discomfort. In conclusion In conclusion, if you find that your ALT is elevated, do not be too nervous, do not worry that you are suffering from a serious liver disease, and do not use enzyme-lowering drugs indiscriminately, so as not to cause the test results to be inconsistent with the actual condition, and affect the doctor’s judgment of the condition. But you must pay enough attention to it, take good rest and receive regular examination or treatment in time.