Blood tests for liver function tests can check for elevated liver transaminases.
Liver function tests involve drawing blood from a vein for testing. Liver function tests focus on the liver’s transaminases, such as alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and glutamate aminotransferase (GAT), and glutamyltranspeptidase (GTP).
The enzyme alanine transaminase (ALT) is found mainly in various cells, especially in hepatocytes. In the acute stage of various viral hepatitis and drug toxic hepatocellular necrosis, ALT is released into the blood in large quantities, so it is an important indicator for the diagnosis of viral hepatitis and toxic hepatitis.
Glutamine aminotransferase (AST) is mainly distributed in the myocardium, followed by tissues such as liver, skeletal muscle and kidney. When glutamic transaminase is markedly elevated, and glutamic transaminase/alanine transaminase (ALT) is greater than 1, it suggests extensive damage to the liver parenchyma and a poor prognosis.
Glutamyl transpeptidase (γ-GT) is widely distributed in human tissues, being most abundant in the kidney, followed by the pancreas and the liver, and most abundant in the liver in the embryonic stage. In the liver, it is mainly distributed in the cytoplasm of hepatocytes and the epithelium of intrahepatic bile ducts, and the γ-GT in normal human serum is mainly from the liver. Clinically this enzyme assay is mainly used to diagnose hepatobiliary diseases and is an indicator of biliary obstruction and hepatitis activity.
To perform the transaminase test, blood should be drawn for liver function tests after 8 hours of fasting.