Skip to content 
When is ALP ordered?
ALP or alkaline phosphatase is a routine laboratory testing used to screen for liver cholestasis. It is a part of the liver panel and usually ordered along with other liver function tests.
The main use of alkaline phosphatase in medicine has to do with cholestatic liver disease. Patients with cholestasis usually have the highest elevation of ALP. It is also useful to detect an obstruction of the biliary tract for any reason, including cancer, stricture of the biliary canal, severe alcoholic hepatitis with necrosis of the hepatic tissue, and other conditions.
Low levels are also significant for the diagnosis of clinical entities such as Wilson disease. This is because zinc is displaced by copper in Wilson disease, and this mineral is essential for alkaline phosphatase. Thus, zinc deficiency, hypothyroidism, and similar conditions would also have low levels of alkaline phosphatase.
In most cases, doctors would run this type of test in patients with mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. It is useful as a screening test and usually interpreted along with other liver markers to increase its sensitivity and specificity.
