Interpretation of Blood Tests for Liver Disease

Increased serum concentrations of several intracellular enzymes have been reported to be useful in establishing the diagnosis and prognosis of hepatopathies in the horse. These include alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (AP), arginase, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), gamma glutamyltranferase (γGT), glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH), iditol dehydrogenase (IDH) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). The four most commonly assayed liver-derived serum enzymes comprise AP, AST, GLDH and γGT. Relative increases in serum concentrations of liver derived enzymes may infer the underlying nature of the liver disease. Experimental studies have suggested