What is AST in blood test? | Aspartate Aminotransferase

How to interpret AST results?

As noted above, AST results are usually lower than ALT. But in alcoholic hepatitis and patients with advanced fibrosis, the trend reverses, and you get an AST to ALT ratio of 2 to 1. This is because alcohol triggers the release of AST from the mitochondria and reduces ALT production at the same time.

Other diseases have the opposite trend because ALT has a lower activity and turnaround as well as a longer half-life in the blood. So, you can also expect AST levels to go back to normal after you’re recovering from liver disease and still have some ALT in the blood.

Martin Davis

Martin is a seasoned Health and Nutrition Editor with a passion for promoting wellness through science-backed content. With 11 years of experience, Martin specializes in translating complex nutritional information into practical advice for readers.