Abstract :
Background: Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity, the variable most commonly measured to assess hepatic function, fails to identify many patients with hepatic injury. Current standards for “normal” ALT level were defined by using populations that included persons with subclinical liver disease. There is no study regarding normal level of ALT and its modulating factors in healthy Thai subjects.
Objective:
To define the normal ranges for serum ALT level in Thai subjects.
Design:
Cross sectional study
Setting:
Phramongkutklao Hospital and Army Institute of Pathology Phramongkutklao Medical center (A.I.P.), Bangkok, Thailand
Participants:
200 first-time blood donors from August through December 2007 who were negative for both antibody to hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B antigen (HBsAg), and who had no contraindications to blood donation.
Measurements:
Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to examine associations between clinical and laboratory factors and ALT levels. Normal ranges for ALT were computed from the population at lowest risk for liver disease.
Results:
In men, serum ALT activity was independently related to body mass index, age, alcoholic consumption, and to laboratory indicators of abnormal lipid or carbohydrate metabolism. The upper limits of normal ranges for serum ALT level in Thai people were 26 U/L for men and 21.67 U/L for women.
Conclusion:
Serum ALT is strongly associated with body mass index, age, alcoholic consumption, and to laboratory indicators of abnormal lipid or carbohydrate metabolism. The normal range of ALT should be defined for male and female separately.
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file/Thai-Journal-of-gastroenterology-vol-9-no-2-3395365.pdf