Alkaline phosphatase and tetracycline
Quote:
>I recently had a set of "health screening" {*filter*} tests through
>work. All the tests (CBC, {*filter*} chemistry, LDL and HDL) came out
>in the normal range, except for one test, alkaline phosphatase,
>where I had a "score" of 144 compared to a normal range of 30-128.
>I'm taking tetracycline, so I looged on the Medline through
>CompuServe and looked up the intersection of alkaline phosphatase
>and tetracycline. There are some articles on the topic, but the
>abstracts aren't available online.
>I'll be seeing my doctor next month, and will ask him about it, but
>can anyone on the net supply information? Is this a bad sign, or
>just a normal reaction? Are there side effects of having high
>levels of this chemical? I've noticed that my right hand (finger
>joints) and left ankle have been feeling sorta creaky recently.
>Any relationship there?
> Jack
General background: Alkaline Phosphatase is an enzyme found
primarily in bone and liver though small amounts are present
in many tissues. Tests are available to determine whether a
high level comes from liver or bone (the enzymes are slightly
different in composition). If the elevated level is from the
liver, it is a sign of _cholestasis_, which is stagnation of
bile in the tiny tubules of the liver.
Tetracycline is known to sometimes cause liver damage (ususally
mild), but usually two other liver enzymes (SGOT and SGPT, to
use their most common names) are elevated more than alkaline
phosphatase. These enzymes were probably checked at the same
time as your alkaline phosphatase, and thus probably normal.
Any situation that causes increased bone turnover causes an
increase in alkaline phosphatase. This includes recent
fractures, recent immobilization (e.g., bed rest for any
reason), and some diseases of bone. Too, children have higher
levels because their bones are still actively growing.
While this doesn't really answer your question, maybe it will
help you make sense of what your alkaline phosphatase does in
the future. If it were me, I'd recheck it in a few weeks, and
it it were back to normal, I'd ignore it. If it were still up,
I'd find out if the extra was coming from bone or liver and go
from there.
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