Elsevier

Clinical Biochemistry

Volume 53, March 2018, Pages 55-57
Clinical Biochemistry

Are universal upper reference limits for alanine aminotransferase (ALT) appropriate for assessing pediatric liver injury?

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinbiochem.2018.01.010Get rights and content

Highlights

  • The implementation of universal upper reference limits (URLs) for ALT in pediatric populations ALT is challenged.

  • The misuse of URLs as medical decision limits is clarified

  • ALT and AST pediatric reference intervals according to both age and analytical platform are recommended.

Section snippets

Opinion

Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) has been the most commonly used and well-established laboratory marker for assessing hepatic injury for > 60 years. Despite not being exquisitely specific to the liver, ALT is routinely used as a first-line screening test for many diseases that result in a loss of hepatocyte integrity. One of the key conditions in this category is non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which describes the accumulation of lipids in the liver. NAFLD also encompasses

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Authors' contribution

MLP and ED wrote the manuscript. KA and ÉL revised the manuscript. All authors read and agreed on the submitted version.

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