Test Catalog

Test Id : ALP

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Alkaline Phosphatase, Serum

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Overview

Test Catalog

Useful For
Suggests clinical disorders or settings where the test may be helpful

Diagnosing and monitoring treatment of liver, bone, intestinal, and parathyroid diseases

Method Name
A short description of the method used to perform the test

Colorimetric

NY State Available
Indicates the status of NY State approval and if the test is orderable for NY State clients.

Yes

Reporting Name
Lists a shorter or abbreviated version of the Published Name for a test

Alkaline Phosphatase, S

Aliases
Lists additional common names for a test, as an aid in searching

Alkaline Phosphatase

Specimen Type
Describes the specimen type validated for testing

Serum

Necessary Information

Patient's age and sex are required.

Specimen Required
Defines the optimal specimen required to perform the test and the preferred volume to complete testing

Collection Container/Tube:

Preferred: Serum gel

Acceptable: Red top

Submission Container/Tube: Plastic vial

Specimen Volume: 1 mL

Collection Instructions:

1. Serum gel tubes should be centrifuged within 2 hours of collection.

2. Red-top tubes should be centrifuged and aliquoted within 2 hours of collection.

Specimen Minimum Volume
Defines the amount of sample necessary to provide a clinically relevant result as determined by the testing laboratory. The minimum volume is sufficient for one attempt at testing.

0.5 mL

Reject Due To
Identifies specimen types and conditions that may cause the specimen to be rejected

Gross hemolysis Reject

Specimen Stability Information
Provides a description of the temperatures required to transport a specimen to the performing laboratory, alternate acceptable temperatures are also included

Specimen Type Temperature Time Special Container
Serum Frozen (preferred) 60 days
Ambient 7 days
Refrigerated 7 days

Useful For
Suggests clinical disorders or settings where the test may be helpful

Diagnosing and monitoring treatment of liver, bone, intestinal, and parathyroid diseases

Clinical Information
Discusses physiology, pathophysiology, and general clinical aspects, as they relate to a laboratory test

Alkaline phosphatase in serum consists of 4 structural genotypes: liver-bone-kidney, intestinal, and placental types, and the variant from the germ cells. It is found in osteoblasts, hepatocytes, leukocytes, the kidneys, spleen, placenta, prostate, and the small intestine. The liver-bone-kidney type is particularly important.

 

A rise in the alkaline phosphatase occurs with all forms of cholestasis, particularly with obstructive jaundice. It is also elevated in diseases of the skeletal system, such as Paget disease, hyperparathyroidism, rickets, and osteomalacia, as well as with fractures and malignant tumors. A considerable rise in the alkaline phosphatase activity is sometimes seen in children and teenagers. It is caused by increased osteoblast activity following accelerated bone growth.

Reference Values
Describes reference intervals and additional information for interpretation of test results. May include intervals based on age and sex when appropriate. Intervals are Mayo-derived, unless otherwise designated. If an interpretive report is provided, the reference value field will state this.

Males

0-14 days: 83-248 U/L

15 days-<1 year: 122-469 U/L

1-<10 years: 142-335 U/L

10-<13 years: 129-417 U/L

13-<15 years: 116-468 U/L

15-<17 years: 82-331 U/L

17-<19 years: 55-149 U/L

> or =19 years: 40-129 U/L

 

Females

0-14 days: 83-248 U/L

15 days-<1 year: 122-469 U/L

1-<10 years: 142-335 U/L

10-<13 years: 129-417 U/L

13-<15 years: 57-254 U/L

15-<17 years: 50-117 U/L

> or =17 years: 35-104 U/L

Interpretation
Provides information to assist in interpretation of the test results

Increases in serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity commonly originate from either one or both of 2 sources: liver and bone. Consequently, serum ALP measurements are of particular interest in the investigation of 2 groups of conditions: hepatobiliary disease and bone disease associated with increased osteoblastic activity.

 

Serum ALP was the first enzyme to be used for the investigation of hepatic disease. The response of the liver to any form of biliary tree obstruction induces the synthesis of ALP by hepatocytes. The newly formed coenzyme is released from the cell membrane by the action of bile salts and enters the circulation to increase the enzyme activity in serum. Increase tends to be more notable (greater than 4-fold the upper reference value [URV]) in extrahepatic obstruction (eg, by stone, by cancer of the head of the pancreas) than in intrahepatic obstruction and is greater the more complete the obstruction. Serum enzyme activities may reach 10 to 12 times the URV and usually return to baseline on surgical removal of the obstruction. A similar increase is seen in patients with advanced primary liver cancer or widespread secondary hepatic metastases. ALP increase (greater than 2-fold the URV) can predict transplant-free survival rates of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis.

 

Liver diseases that principally affect parenchymal cells, such as infectious hepatitis, typically show only moderately (less than 3-fold) increased or even normal serum ALP activities. Increases may also be seen as a consequence of a reaction to drug therapy, and ALT/ALP-based criteria to discriminate the type of liver injury in drug-induced hepatic toxicity have been recommended. Intestinal ALP isoenzyme, an asialoglycoprotein normally cleared by the hepatic asialoglycoprotein receptors, is often increased in patients with liver cirrhosis.

Cautions
Discusses conditions that may cause diagnostic confusion, including improper specimen collection and handling, inappropriate test selection, and interfering substances

Pediatric reference values should be used to properly interpret alkaline phosphatase values in children and adolescents.

Clinical Reference
Recommendations for in-depth reading of a clinical nature

1. Panteghini M, Bais R: Serum enzymes. In: Rifai N, Horvath AR, Wittwer C, eds. Tietz Textbook of Clinical Chemistry and Molecular Diagnostics. Elsevier; 2018:404-434

2. Abicht K, El-Samalouti V, Junge W, et al: Multicenter evaluation of new GGT and AlP reagents with new reference standardization and determination of 37 degrees C reference intervals. Clin Chem Lab Med. 2001;39(Special Suppl):S346

3. Estey MP, Cohen AH, Colantonio DA, et al: CLSI-based transference of the CALIPER database of pediatric reference intervals from Abbott to Beckman, Ortho, Roche and Siemens Clinical Chemistry Assays: Direct validation using reference samples from the CALIPER cohort. Clin Biochem. 2013;46:1197-1219

4. Lammers WJ, van Buuren HR, Hirschfield GM, et al: Levels of alkaline phosphatase and bilirubin are surrogate end points of outcomes of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis: An international follow-up study. Gastroenterology. 2014; 147: pp. 1338-1349

Method Description
Describes how the test is performed and provides a method-specific reference

In the presence of magnesium and zinc ions, p-nitrophenyl phosphate is cleaved by phosphatases into phosphate and p-nitrophenol. The p-nitrophenol released is directly proportional to the catalytic alkaline phosphatase activity. It is determined by measuring the increase in absorbance.(Package insert: Alkaline Phosphatase reagent. Roche Diagnostics; 02/2012)

PDF Report
Indicates whether the report includes an additional document with charts, images or other enriched information

No

Day(s) Performed
Outlines the days the test is performed. This field reflects the day that the sample must be in the testing laboratory to begin the testing process and includes any specimen preparation and processing time before the test is performed. Some tests are listed as continuously performed, which means that assays are performed multiple times during the day.

Monday through Sunday

Report Available
The interval of time (receipt of sample at Mayo Clinic Laboratories to results available) taking into account standard setup days and weekends. The first day is the time that it typically takes for a result to be available. The last day is the time it might take, accounting for any necessary repeated testing.

Same day/1 to 2 days

Specimen Retention Time
Outlines the length of time after testing that a specimen is kept in the laboratory before it is discarded

1 week

Performing Laboratory Location
Indicates the location of the laboratory that performs the test

Rochester

Fees
Several factors determine the fee charged to perform a test. Contact your U.S. or International Regional Manager for information about establishing a fee schedule or to learn more about resources to optimize test selection.

  • Authorized users can sign in to Test Prices for detailed fee information.
  • Clients without access to Test Prices can contact Customer Service 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
  • Prospective clients should contact their account representative. For assistance, contact Customer Service.

Test Classification
Provides information regarding the medical device classification for laboratory test kits and reagents. Tests may be classified as cleared or approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and used per manufacturer instructions, or as products that do not undergo full FDA review and approval, and are then labeled as an Analyte Specific Reagent (ASR) product.

This test has been cleared, approved, or is exempt by the US Food and Drug Administration and is used per manufacturer's instructions. Performance characteristics were verified by Mayo Clinic in a manner consistent with CLIA requirements.

CPT Code Information
Provides guidance in determining the appropriate Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code(s) information for each test or profile. The listed CPT codes reflect Mayo Clinic Laboratories interpretation of CPT coding requirements. It is the responsibility of each laboratory to determine correct CPT codes to use for billing.

CPT codes are provided by the performing laboratory.

84075

LOINC® Information
Provides guidance in determining the Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC) values for the order and results codes of this test. LOINC values are provided by the performing laboratory.

Test Id Test Order Name Order LOINC Value
ALP Alkaline Phosphatase, S 6768-6
Result Id Test Result Name Result LOINC Value
Applies only to results expressed in units of measure originally reported by the performing laboratory. These values do not apply to results that are converted to other units of measure.
ALP Alkaline Phosphatase, S 6768-6

Test Setup Resources

Setup Files
Test setup information contains test file definition details to support order and result interfacing between Mayo Clinic Laboratories and your Laboratory Information System.

Excel | Pdf

Sample Reports
Normal and Abnormal sample reports are provided as references for report appearance.

Normal Reports | Abnormal Reports

SI Sample Reports
International System (SI) of Unit reports are provided for a limited number of tests. These reports are intended for international account use and are only available through MayoLINK accounts that have been defined to receive them.

SI Normal Reports | SI Abnormal Reports