Elevated Ast And Alt

[yaelchai]

I was diagnosed with celiac after a biopsy in December. I've been gluten free except for a couple of notable exceptions (spelt bread once or twice). I just had another blood test and my ALT and AST are both elevated (127 and 110). I read somewhere that these can be elevated in celiac disease, but they have not previously been this elevated (just a little over the upper limit of 40). Can anyone help me to understand if this is likely to be from celiac or from some other reason?

Yael

[trents]

I was one of those whose liver enzymes were elevated because of celiac disease. It was what led to my diagnosis, in fact, because my GI symptoms were very minor. However, once going on a gluten free diet those liver enzymes returned to normal and have been ever since. My ALT and AST numbers were in the 40's and 50's before going gluten-free and the fact that your's have gotten higher rather than lower since you have attempted to eliminate gluten is puzzling. Either you are still getting gluten from somewhere you are not aware of or there is some other liver disease process at work. Have you been tested for virul hepatitis, fatty liver disease, or other possible causes? I would go to a GI doc, not a general practitioner, if I were you and push for some answers. You don't want to fry your liver. Those numbers are fairly high and nothing to put on the back burner.

[ravenwoodglass]

I agree with the previous poster, another thing that you should look at is any meds you are taking. The list of meds that are cleared through the liver is substancial and your doctor really should be addressing this. You also have not been gluten free for very long. If you are eating processed foods or drinking gluten grain derived alcohols or using gluten grain derived vinegars you need to know they are not safe for everyone.

[jerseyangel]

My liver enzymes elevated last summer after I'd been gluten-free for 3 years. It's important to figure out why the levels are elevated since this is an indication that the liver could be damaged.

Gallbladder problems can also cause elevated liver enzymes--I had no idea until my doctor told me. I had an upper abdominal ultrasound to check the liver, gallbladder, etc. That was normal, so I was referred to the gastro who ran the hepatic blood panel to check for liver disease, and did an endoscopy to check for refractory sprue.

By the time this was all done, my enzyme levels had returned to normal--I just had a blood test two weeks ago, and they're still normal. My doctor feels that mine were "sprue related". At the time of the initial test, I was reacting to some CC that I was not aware of and had been eating for a while.

Whether or not this had anything to so with it, we really don't know. As far as alcohol, any alcohol--safe or not--can cause a slight temporary elevation, according to my doctor. So can things like Tylenol or NSADS used regularly.