Alkaline phosphatase--ALP--is a type of enzyme in your blood that can affect your blood levels of calcium. ALP blood tests are sometimes performed to diagnose certain diseases like Paget's disease, hyperparathyroidism and liver disease. If your ALP blood levels are too high, your doctor may need to perform additional tests to determine why.
Identification
ALP is made by your liver, intestines and kidneys, and it's also found in your bones and produced by the placenta in pregnant women, says the University of Michigan Health System. Your liver makes the most ALP. If you have excessive amounts of ALP in your blood, your blood levels of calcium may be affected. ALP and calcium levels in your blood can impact your bone development, explains the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. In fact, ALP is normally higher in children who are growing and in people who're recovering from bone fractures.
Amounts
Although ALP levels are typically higher in pregnant women during their third trimester and people with broken bones, other individuals should have lower levels. The normal ALP blood level in adults is typically 30 to 126 units per liter (U/L) or 0.5 to 2.0 microkat per liter (mckat/L), according to the University of Michigan Health System. Growing children have slightly higher levels of ALP in their blood, usually measuring at 30 to 300 U/L or 0.5 to 5.0 mckat/L. Some laboratories may have different guidelines for normal ALP levels, such as a narrower range of 45 to 115 U/L, MayoClinic.com notes. Your doctor will interpret your test results so you'll understand what they mean.
Significance
Blood tests for ALP and calcium levels are often performed to diagnose Paget's disease, a chronic medical condition that causes bone deformities, notes the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. ALP blood tests may also help detect a problem with your liver function, MayoClinic.com states. High levels of ALP in your blood can also indicate bone cancer, according to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Other reasons for ALP and calcium blood tests include diagnoses of parathyroid-hormone problems, osteomalacia and liver disease or damage.
Considerations
Certain other health concerns can cause elevated ALP and calcium levels in your blood. High levels can indicate sepsis, kidney cancer, rickets in children, mononucleosis, gallstones, hepatitis, bile-duct blockages, liver cancer or liver cirrhosis, says the University of Michigan Health System. Elevated ALP and calcium levels could also point to heart disease risks, particularly for heart failure and heart attack. ALP blood tests are also typically performed to determine how well certain treatments are working, especially for measuring liver function while undergoing treatment for liver cirrhosis, MayoClinic.com notes. Conversely, low ALP levels can reveal malnutrition due to a poor diet or a malabsorption condition like celiac disease.
Warning
Keep in mind that several different factors can affect your blood levels of ALP and calcium. If you take certain liver-damaging medications like antibiotics, oral contraceptives and diabetes drugs, your ALP levels may be elevated, notes the University of Michigan Health System. Pregnant and postmenopausal women have naturally higher ALP levels, and your alcohol consumption can also influence your levels. Keep in mind ALP and calcium blood tests are rarely used alone to diagnose a medical condition, and a variety of follow-up tests are usually performed, says the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
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