What causes high serum aspartate aminotransferase?

High serum aspartate aminotransferase is closely related to some liver diseases, especially various viral hepatitis, cirrhosis or liver abscess. These liver diseases may cause symptoms of high transaminase, so the cause needs to be identified and treated.

Diseases of the liver itself, especially various types of viral hepatitis, cirrhosis, liver abscess, liver tuberculosis, liver cancer, fatty liver, etc., can cause varying degrees of elevated transaminase levels.

②In addition to the liver, other organs and tissues in the body such as the heart, kidneys, lungs, brain, testicles, and muscles also contain this enzyme. Therefore, elevated blood transaminase levels may be seen in cases of myocarditis, pyelonephritis, lobar pneumonia, tuberculosis, Japanese encephalitis, polymyositis, acute sepsis, typhoid fever, meningitis, malaria, cholecystitis, leptospirosis, influenza, measles, schistosomiasis, crush syndrome, etc.

③Because transaminase is excreted from the bile duct, if there is a disease of the bile duct, gallbladder or pancreas, or bile duct obstruction, the transaminase level may also increase.

④ Drug-induced or toxic liver damage, as well as drug allergy, can cause elevated transaminases, often accompanied by cholestatic jaundice and hepatocellular damage.

⑤Normal pregnancy, preeclampsia, acute fatty liver of pregnancy, etc. are also common causes of elevated transaminase. In addition, strenuous exercise may also cause an increase in transaminase. Chronic elevation of transaminase is a special temporary diagnosis in clinical practice, and is also the only clinical manifestation of many patients with non-viral hepatitis and liver disease. The pathogen of liver disease can be determined in most cases through medical history, physical examination and a series of tests; however, there are still some abnormal liver function that cannot be explained by routine examinations, which requires further liver biopsy histological examination to thoroughly clarify the cause. Only by figuring out which of the above situations causes the increase in transaminase can we trace the root cause and prescribe the right medicine.