At a glance
| Analyte | Alanine aminotransferase |
|---|---|
| Also called | SGPT, Serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase, GPT |
| Method | Enzymatic kinetic UV |
| Sample type | Serum, Plasma |
| Panel | Hepatic |
| Discipline | Clinical chemistry |
| Brand | Mindray |
What ALT (SGPT) measures
Alanine aminotransferase sits mainly inside liver cells, so when those cells are injured it leaks into the blood and the measured activity rises. That relative confinement to the liver is what makes it the more specific of the two transaminases: a raised ALT points at the liver in a way a raised AST does not, because AST is also abundant in heart and skeletal muscle. Laboratories therefore report the two together and read them as a pair rather than separately, since the ratio between them carries information that neither value carries alone. ALT is requested for hepatitis workup, for monitoring patients on medication known to affect the liver, and as part of the routine chemistry panel ordered on admission and at annual physical examinations.
How Philippine laboratories run it
Almost every Philippine laboratory reports this as SGPT, and it is written that way on request forms, in company annual physical examination packages and in the pre-employment medical panels that make up a large share of outpatient chemistry volume. Those packages are the reason SGPT and SGOT arrive in predictable batches rather than evenly through the month, which matters when planning reagent supply: a laboratory serving corporate accounts can run several months of ordinary volume in a single week. Hepatitis B screening remains common enough that abnormal transaminases are followed up rather than filed, so the assay generates repeat testing as well as first-pass volume.
Analyzers it runs on
* BA-88A: Semi-automated: assay parameters are entered manually at setup rather than loaded from the reagent barcode.
Calibrator, controls and companion tests
Delivered with its calibrator, both control levels and the rest of the hepatic panel, on the same schedule as ALT (SGPT).
Storage and handling
Refrigerated and kept closed when off the analyzer.
Buying ALT (SGPT) in the Philippines
ALT (SGPT) is supplied for the BS-600M, BS-430, BS-360E, BS-240Pro, BS-230 and BA-88A. We deliver it with Multi-Sera Calibrator and Chemistry Control Level 1, because a run held up waiting on a separate order costs the same shift a stock-out does. Delivery is scheduled against your monthly ALT (SGPT) count, so the bench is not rationing tests in the last week of the month. How we plan clinical chemistry supply.
Questions about ALT (SGPT)
Is SGPT the same as ALT?
Yes. SGPT, serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase, is the older name for the same enzyme now called alanine aminotransferase. Philippine laboratories and request forms use SGPT far more often than ALT, and Mindray labels the reagent ALT, so the two names appear side by side on the same bench. There is no difference in what is measured.
Why are SGPT and SGOT always ordered together?
Because the pair is more informative than either alone. ALT is relatively liver-specific while AST is also present in heart and skeletal muscle, so the relationship between the two helps distinguish liver injury from a source outside the liver. Ordering one without the other throws away that comparison, which is why they are packaged together in almost every liver panel.
Order ALT (SGPT)
Tell us your monthly ALT (SGPT) volume and we will quote a supply schedule for BS-600M. We reply within one business day.
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