Aldolase, Serum
CPT CODE:
- 82085
USEFUL FOR:
Detection of muscle disease
SPECIMEN REQUIRED:
Draw blood in a plain, red-top tube(s) from a fasting patient. (Serum gel tube or hemolyzed specimen is notacceptable.) Spin down and send 1 mL of serum frozen inplastic vial.
TRANSPORT TEMPERATURE:
Frozen\Refrig OK\Ambient NO
CLINICAL INFORMATION:
Aldolase is necessary for glycolysis in muscle as a "rapid response"pathway for production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), independentof tissue oxygen.
Aldolase catalyses the conversion of fructose 1,6-diphosphate into dihydroxyacetone phosphate and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, an important reaction in the glycolytic breakdown of glucose to lactate in muscle.
Aldolase is a tetramer whose primary structure depends upon theTissue from which it was synthesized (liver, muscle, brain). Thebrain form of aldolase has, because of its preponderance in whitecells, been suggested to be a leukemia marker, but this is not confirmed.
Elevated values are found in muscle diseases, such as Duchennemuscular dystrophy, dermatomyositis, polymyositis, and limb-girdledystrophy.
CLINICAL INTERPRETATION:
The highest levels of aldolase are found in progressive (Duchenne) muscular dystrophy. Lesser elevations are found in dermatomyositis, polymyositis, and limb-girdle dystrophy. In dystrophic conditions causing hyperaldolasemia, the increase in aldolase becomes less dramatic as muscle mass decreases.
Reference (normal) values are observed in polio, myasthenia gravis,and multiple sclerosis.
Aldolase increases in myocardial infarction in a time pattern similar to the aspartate aminotransferase (AST).
Increases are also associated with acute viral hepatitis, but levels arenormal or slightly elevated in chronic hepatitis, portal cirrhosis,and obstructive jaundice.
Elevations may also be seen with gangrene, prostate tumors,trichinosis, some carcinomas metastatic to the liver, some chronic leukemias, some blood dyscrasias, and delirium tremens.
REFERENCE VALUES:
0-16 years: <14.5 U/L
> or = 17 years: <7.7 U/L
