Short Name: ALK
Sample required: Serum
Result Time: 1 Days
Alkaline phosphatase is a hydrolase enzyme responsible for removing phosphate groups from many types of molecules including nucleotides, proteins, and alkaloids. It is made in the liver, bone, and the placenta and normally present in high concentrations in growing bone and in bile. Serum alkaline phosphatase test is a meausre of the integrity of the hepatobiliary system and the flow of bile into the small intestine. Abnormally HIGH levels of alkaline phosphatase may be associated with bile duct obstruction, chronic myelogenous leukemia, osteomalacia, rickets, Pagets disease, hyperparathyroidism, liver or bone tumors. LOW levels are associated with hypothyroidism, radiation sickness, malnutrition, or with a genetic condition called hypophosphatasia which result in bone deformities.