Blood biochemistry for liver examination

2023 Author: Alfred Shackley | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 13:14

Taking care of your health should be constant. Feeling a little unwell, feeling discomfort in the right hypochondrium, a person should go for an examination of the state of one of the main organs - the liver.

And for this you need to know what tests you need to pass to check the liver. A biochemical blood test for enzymes will help to check its work.

How biochemical tests can help detect liver disease

Biochemical analysis will show whether your liver is normal or not. It is the main laboratory test, in addition to analyzes of urine, feces, helping to identify diseases such as cirrhosis, hepatitis, metabolic disorders.

Biochemical tests allow you to check the amount of enzymes in units per liter of blood synthesized in the liver, proteins, fats, electrolytes:

• Aspartate aminotransferase (AcAt) plays an important role in amino acid metabolism. Exceeding its norm allows detecting damage to liver cells, hepatocytes. In addition, an increase in the indicator, which is shown by biochemical tests, may appear in case of disturbances in the work of the heart. In pregnant women, a slight deviation in the amount of the enzyme is normal:
• The formation of glucose from proteins and fats cannot occur without the substance alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Usually the limits of the norm of this enzyme are quite wide and only a significant excess indicates pathology;
• The function of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in the elimination of phosphoric acid residues from its organic compounds. An excess of the enzyme norm will tell about many diseases not only of the liver, but also of the skeletal system;
• During the breakdown of glucose, energy is released, and this reaction requires lactade dehydrogenase (LDH). When the hepatocytes are damaged, the level of the enzyme rises, as shown by the tests;
• Deviations in the level of glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH), a substance involved in the exchange of amino acids, testify to severe forms of diseases of the liver, gallbladder, intoxication;
• An increase in the norm of gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) will tell about pathological changes in the organ, intoxications;
• The enzyme sorbitol hydrogenase (SDH) can be detected during analysis if the patient has an acute stage of cirrhosis, hepatitis of various types;
• Synthesizing a huge amount of protein molecules, liver cells with pathological changes in them increase or decrease their norm;
• A reduced concentration of abulmin, a protein in blood plasma, suggests that hepatocytes suffer from serious abnormalities - cirrhosis, cancer, hepatitis. Analyzes will help to identify the disease in a timely manner;
• A substance formed after the breakdown of hemoglobin, bilirubin, in large quantities leads to the appearance of a symptom of jaundice, which is characteristic of many pathologies. For the tests to help identify abnormalities in the level of bilirubin, it is enough to donate blood for biochemistry;
• Typical for patients suffering from alcoholism, cirrhosis, increased levels of cholesterol and its fractions;
• Deviations from the normal level of triglycerides in the direction of decreasing or increasing are associated with liver diseases;
• Disorders of metabolic processes in the organ are revealed by the presence of ammonia in the blood;
• Biochemical analysis checks the indicators of iron, urea. Their decrease or increase confirms the presence of hepatic ailments;
• Functions for the synthesis of proteins, the state of the blood coagulation system can be seen in the values of the prothrombin index according to Quick. An increased amount of prothrombin protein indicates oncological neoplasms, and a reduced amount - of vitamin K deficiency.

Changes in biochemistry help diagnose pathologies, determine their type, at what stage their development is. The venous blood sampling procedure is painless for the patient within two minutes. Tests are carried out in the direction of the attending physician to identify the disease according to the patient's complaints or in order to prevent or check the effectiveness of therapy.

Proper preparation for the study will give a reliable result

The study of the biochemical state of the blood will take place with high accuracy if some rules of preparation for it are followed:

• You need to donate blood on an empty stomach, which means that you cannot take food twelve hours before sampling:
• It is forbidden to drink tea or coffee per day, and for two to eat fatty, spicy dishes, alcoholic beverages;
• On the eve, it is better to refuse to go to the bathhouse, sauna, exclude physical activity;
• Blood sampling is done in the morning before medical procedures begin. Before surrendering, the patient must calm down;
• If you are taking any medications, it is better to do this after the research;
• One hour before blood sampling, do not smoke, do not brush your teeth;
• For two weeks, you need to exclude the intake of drugs that reduce the amount of lipids in the blood vessels;
• The re-delivery of the analysis should take place in the same laboratory as the previous one.

Meeting the requirements of preparation for the study will allow diagnosing diseases more accurately.

How to decipher analyzes

A biochemical blood test will give a full picture of the work of the liver and other organs that help it in cleansing the body of toxins and toxins, will help to find out what deviations exist:

• The AcAt enzyme per liter of blood should be no more than 31 units for women and 37 units for men. An increase in the number will require immediate hospitalization of the patient, as it is a consequence of necrosis of the liver or heart;
• Assistant in the formation of glucose AlAt ranges from five units to fifty units per liter. The severity of pathological changes will give a sharp increase in performance;
• The presence of alkaline phosphatase in women is estimated at 240 units, and in men - 270. Diseases of the bones, cancer, liver tuberculosis, cirrhosis or viral hepatitis will raise its level;
• The amount of enzymes LDH and GDH depends on age. In newborns, their level is high: up to 2000 units and 6, 6 units, respectively. The blood of adults contains 250 units of LDH, and GDH - from three in women and up to four in men. If the hepatocytes are seriously damaged, then the increase in enzymes is significant;
• The reference value of GGT is from six to seventy-one units, it often rises in chronic alcoholics. Refusal from alcoholic beverages will bring the indicator back to normal;
• The concentration of proteins in the blood should not exceed 66-83 grams per liter. Pathological changes in the form of tumors, cirrhosis, hepatitis lead to a decrease in these indicators;
• The yellow pigment, bilirubin, has a special role in research. Allocate the amount of total substance, which should not be more than 3, 4 to 17, 1 μmol / l, direct - up to 7, 9 and indirect - up to 19 μmol / l. Increased pigment leads to jaundice;
• The amount of cholesterol above 7, 85 mmol / l is associated with liver ailments, which are typical for alcoholics;
• Limit values of triglycerides - 0, 34 to 2, 71 mmol / l. With cirrhosis and various forms of hepatitis, they are increased, and pathologies of other organs are reduced;
• The detection of ammonia in an amount higher than 32 μmol / l indicates severe liver pathologies;
• An increase in the norm of the gland over 30, 43 µmol / l indicates acute hepatitis, less than 8, 95 µmol / l of the element - about cirrhosis;
• In acute hepatic dystrophy, coma, cirrhosis, the level of urea in the blood is reduced to less than 2.1 mmol / l up to sixty years, 2.9 mmol / l - after;
• The prothrombin index values normally range from 78 to 142 percent. Increased indicators are associated with oncological changes in the organ.

Only a specialist can decipher the values of a biochemical study and conclude what problems are present in the patient's body.