What service or area is affected?
Change in Alanine Transaminase (ALT) and Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST) assays.
What is the detail?
Due to planned refresh of the Biochemistry laboratory’s main analysers by Roche over the next 12-18 months it will be necessary to change the assay formulations of Alanine Transaminase (ALT) and Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST) on the current analysers. The current formulation will not be available on the new analysers, so we have to change to the new formulations prior to this change in order that both the Freeman and RVI sites are using the same assays. The new assays will have the addition of pyridoxal-5-phosphate which will improve the detectability of abnormal liver function in patients with vitamin B6 deficiency and is the recommended formulation by the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine.
This change will occur on Monday 30th September 2024 09:00am
What does this mean for me?
Because of this change you may notice an increase in ALT/AST concentration by approximately 5 to 10% especially at very high concentrations due to a recognised positive bias compared to the previous assay.
The references changes will not be changing and continue to be:
ALT: All ages: 0 – 40 U/L
AST: All ages: 0 – 40 U/L
Please be aware of which assay is used when calculating of a clinical score such as FIB4 as higher scores are expected with the new formation of this assay.
Who should I contact if I have any queries?
If you have any queries please contact Dr Tim Lang, Consultant Clinical Scientist, Clinical Lead for Biochemistry at 0191 28 24585 or [email protected].