标题: New Tests Effective in Identifying Liver Inflammation [打印本页] 作者: liver411 时间: 2011-11-23 08:21 标题: New Tests Effective in Identifying Liver Inflammation
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New Tests Effective in Identifying Liver Inflammation
ALT levels—measured in a blood sample—can reveal if there is liver damage occurring, but scientists are finding this test can give an unreliable picture of your liver’s health. The test gives only a momentary “snapshot” of your liver, and does not show previous damage or fibrosis.
Now researchers think they may have two more reliable tests to show if a liver is inflammed. Scientists, writing in the journal Liver International, report that aspartate aminotransferase(AST) and apolipoprotein A1 levels, measured in a blood sample, can be used to predict moderate liver damage and inflammation, which if untreated over time can lead to cirrhosis or liver cancer.
They performed these two tests on 227 patients with either hepatitis B or C, who had normal or only mildly elevated ALT levels, and then performed liver biopsies to confirm their findings.
They found that 48 (21.1%) and eight patients (3.5%) had serious grade 3 and 4 inflammation respectively. They conducted a wide variety of tests on the patients and found that the AST and apolipoprotein A1 levels measures most accurately indicated if serious inflammation was present – even more so than ALT.
“Using AST and apolipoprotein cut-off values of 44 IU/L or higher and 00ng/ml or higher, respectively, the presence of significant inflammation was predicted with high specificity (of 96.5%),” they wrote.