The liver is the largest internal organ in your body and carries out numerous functions, including balancing blood sugar and cholesterol levels, recycling red blood cell products, producing digestive enzymes, filtering drugs and toxins and eliminating wastes from the body. It's not surprising that imbalances or problems in the liver can affect your entire body, including your skin. Liver enzymes can become elevated and accumulate in your blood when the liver is damaged or inflamed. This can lead to skin itching or pruritis, as well as other symptoms. Your doctor can diagnose liver imbalances and conditions with blood tests.
Definition
Liver enzymes are produced by the liver and a measure of these proteins can indicate liver function and health. The liver enzymes most commonly checked in a blood function test are alanine transaminase, ALT, and aspartate transaminase, AST. These enzymes are called aminotransferase chemicals and are used to produce glycogen, the stored form of glucose, for energy. AST is found in the liver as well as the brain, heart, muscles, kidneys, pancreas and lungs while ALT is found only in the liver.
Causes
A blood function test for the liver measures your liver enzymes. In most cases, elevated levels are mild and temporary and do not indicate serious illness or chronic disease. There are several causes of elevated liver enzymes. Chemocare.com lists these to include alcohol consumption, medications such as statins for cholesterol control, autoimmune hepatitis, hepatitis A, B or C infections, alcoholic hepatitis, cirrhosis or liver scarring, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and pain medications, such as acetaminophen. In some cases certain liver enzymes can be raised without any direct damage to your liver. These include causes such as celiac disease, heart disease, cytomegalovirus infection and damage to the bones.
Liver Function Test
A liver function test checks the health of your liver and helps diagnose any conditions or problems. The test primarily measures the levels of ALT and AST in your blood, as well as other liver enzymes such as ALP and LDH. The blood test also gauges your liver's production of the protein albumin and its ability to use bilirubin, a waste product from old red blood cells to produce bile, a digestive fluid that is stored in your gallbladder.
Symptoms
Elevated liver enzymes can cause varying symptoms in individuals, depending on the cause. You may not notice any difference or you may have itchy skin. MayoClinic.com lists other symptoms such as fatigue, weakness, low energy, abdominal pain, lightly colored stools, bloating and swelling of your legs, ankles and feet. You may also notice that you are bleeding easier if the damage affects your liver's production of blood-clotting factors.
References
- MayoClinic.com: Liver Enzymes
- Chemocare.com: Liver Problems - Liver Dysfunction
- MayoClinic.com: Liver Function Tests
- ElevatedLiverEnzymes.net: Elevated Liver Enzymes Symptoms
- Alcohol and Alcholism (2004); HIGH AST/ALT RATIO MAY INDICATE ADVANCED ALCOHOLIC LIVER DISEASE RATHER THAN HEAVY DRINKING; Volume 39; 336-339; Nyblom, H. et al
