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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Elevated AST Levels?

Hi - I drank heavily on consecutive nights (Friday and Saturday night) and had a few drinks on Tuesday night preceding a liver panel test on Wednesday. My AST was found to be high (58 on a normal scale of 0-55 u/l). ALT was normal (32 on a normal scale of 0-69 u/l). Should I be concerned or were the drinking sessions of the past week to blame for the elevated AST levels? Thank you.
posted on Fri, 14 Mar 2014
Twitter Sun, 15 Nov 2015 Answered on
Twitter Mon, 16 Nov 2015 Last reviewed on
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Gastroenterologist,  's  Response
Hello! Thanks for putting your query in HCM. I am a Gastroenterologist (DM). Increase in AST is due to liver cell injury which may be due to alcohol intake. It is a matter of concern as prolonged liver injury can cause cirrhosis that is shrinkage of liver which is irreversible. So I will advise you to avoid alcohol. Also other common and treatable causes like Hepatitis B and C virus, Serum ceruloplasmin for wilson disease especially if you are young, ANA and SMA for autoimmune disease are to be investigated as they also cause increase in AST

I hope I have answered your query and this will help you. If you have any further query I will be happy to answer that too. Remain in touch and get-well soon.
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What Causes Elevated AST Levels?

Hello! Thanks for putting your query in HCM. I am a Gastroenterologist (DM). Increase in AST is due to liver cell injury which may be due to alcohol intake. It is a matter of concern as prolonged liver injury can cause cirrhosis that is shrinkage of liver which is irreversible. So I will advise you to avoid alcohol. Also other common and treatable causes like Hepatitis B and C virus, Serum ceruloplasmin for wilson disease especially if you are young, ANA and SMA for autoimmune disease are to be investigated as they also cause increase in AST I hope I have answered your query and this will help you. If you have any further query I will be happy to answer that too. Remain in touch and get-well soon.