The liver's job is to clean the body of toxins by processing drugs and detoxifying the blood. Hepatocytes or liver cells also provide necessary building blocks such as amino acids and glucose. Elevated liver enzyme blood tests indicate liver disease, MayoClinic.com. A health care technologist measures AST or aspartate transaminase, ALT or alanine transaminase and GGT or gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase levels to determine if liver disease is present.
Hepatitis
A common cause of elevated liver enzymes is hepatitis A, B and C. Inflamed hepatocytes can be the result of hepatitis viral infection. Fecal contamination of food or water spreads hepatitis A, while hepatitis B is spread by exposure to body fluids or through sexual contact. Hepatitis C is usually contracted by sharing dirty needles among drug abusers though it can likewise be spread through sexual contact. An unborn child can also contract hepatitis from an infected mother. The most serious form is hepatitis C, according to MayoClinic.com.
Cirrhosis
Alcoholic cirrhosis can lead to elevated liver enzymes. The liver is the main organ that processes alcohol. Cirrhosis is the fourth leading cause of death in people ages 45 to 54, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. A precursor for cirrhosis is alcoholic hepatitis which causes inflammation of the liver cells. Nausea, loss of appetite, vomiting, fever, abdominal pain or tenderness, and elevated liver enzymes often accompany alcoholic hepatitis. Mental confusion and jaundice or yellowing of the skin are indicators of severe disease. Because women's livers are smaller, they are at higher risk of developing cirrhosis than men. Accumulation of fat in the liver is termed nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, a condition that is usually not severe though it is capable of elevating the liver enzymes.
Drugs
Elevated liver enzymes can be caused by cholesterol-lowering drugs. Patients taking statins as well as gemfibrozil and niacin are at risk for liver damage, according to MayoClinic.com. Patients with a significant elevation in liver enzymes should not take these medications. Liver enzymes must be checked monthly after these medications are started for the first six months. Excessive use of acetaminophen can cause permanent liver damage. A particularly dangerous and sometimes fatal combination is the use of alcohol with acetaminophen.
