What is the transaminase test? Will high transaminase cause yellow eyes?

When we go for a physical examination, one of the things we must do is to draw blood. Many things can be tested from the blood, such as blood sugar, uric acid, transaminase, etc. Transaminase is an indicator of liver function and is a normal enzyme in our body.

What is the transaminase test?

Transaminase is an important indicator for evaluating liver function level, mainly including alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase, with normal value of 0-40U/L.

But this does not mean that there are only these two types of transaminases in our human body. In fact, transaminases, as an enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of amino acids, are commonly found in our heart, brain, liver, kidney and other tissues. However, current studies have found that alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase are the two most important transaminases for our human body. They are mainly present in the liver cells of our human body. Therefore, they are included in the examination report for evaluating our liver function.

There are many factors that lead to elevated transaminase levels, including dietary factors, long-term drinking, active cirrhosis and liver cancer, cholecystitis, gallstones, acute myocardial infarction, myocarditis, heart failure and other factors.

Will high transaminase cause yellow eyes?

If the transaminase level is high, it means abnormal liver function. Simply high transaminase level will not affect the eyes. If it is combined with elevated bilirubin, jaundice will occur, which manifests as yellowing of the skin and sclera. This is the so-called yellowing of the eyes, or jaundice.

In other words, scleral icterus has no direct relationship with high transaminase levels, and people with high transaminase levels usually also have high bilirubin levels, which is the culprit for scleral icterus.

Will high transaminase levels affect the eyes?

Elevated transaminases do not affect the eyes.

Transaminase is a substance that mainly exists in liver cells and is divided into many types. When liver cells become inflamed or necrotic, the liver cells are destroyed and transaminase is released from the liver cells into the blood. A blood test will show that the transaminase level is higher than normal.

High transaminases include:

Non-pathological conditions: If you stay up late, eat greasy food, drink alcohol, or take certain medications before the examination, your transaminase level may increase transiently, but it usually returns to normal after changing your lifestyle.

Pathological condition: Common clinical diseases that cause elevated transaminase levels include viral hepatitis (hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E), fatty liver, cholecystitis, cholelithiasis, active cirrhosis, liver cancer, etc.

In addition, it should not be ignored that heart diseases such as myocardial infarction and myocarditis can also cause elevated transaminases, especially in patients with coronary heart disease. Elevated transaminases caused by pathological conditions require symptomatic treatment by a specialist.