alanine aminotransferase

noun
variants: or alanine transaminase

Medical Definition of alanine aminotransferase

: an enzyme which promotes transfer of an amino group from glutamic acid to pyruvic acid and which when present in abnormally high levels in the blood is a diagnostic indication of liver disease or damage The concentrations of some of these enzymes, such as the readily measured alanine aminotransferase, are frequently elevated in the blood of patients with active hepatitis.— Thomas H. Maugh II, Science, 28 Nov. 1980 abbreviation ALT

called also glutamic-pyruvic transaminase