what happens if alkaline phosphatase is high during pregnancy?

what happens if alkaline phosphatase is high during pregnancy?

Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is an enzyme found throughout your body, especially in the liver, bones, digestive system, and kidneys. Abnormal levels of ALP in your blood may be a sign of dysfunction in mentioned organs, which is determined by an alkaline phosphatase test. (1)

Many conditions may affect ALP levels, so the test is often done with other blood tests, such as bilirubin direct and indirect or ALT and AST, that check how well your liver is working.

Normal range:

The normal serum concentration of ALP varies from laboratory to laboratory. One common reference range is from 44 to 147 international units per liter (IU/L), but it’s important to check your test result report to see what your specific lab’s reference range is (2).

What happens if alkaline phosphatase is high during pregnancy?

We expect an increase in ALP in pregnancy because of its existence in the placenta, so there is nothing to worry about. In pregnant women, levels up to twice that upper limit can still be standard (5).

However, it’s important to note that elevated levels of ALP can range in severity. While mildly elevated levels during pregnancy are often normal; a very high ALP level may be a marker of placental dysfunction, HELLP syndrome, intrahepatic cholestasis, malignancy, and liver/bone diseases. In cases with an abnormally increased alkaline phosphatase, more frequent monitoring may need (2,3,4).

Therefore, the answer to the question What happens if alkaline phosphatase is high during pregnancy? Depends on the intensity of the increase.

* You can enter your lab test results online and get a personalized interpretation, including your condition in each test, definition, reasons for increased or decreased results, dietary and lifestyle recommendations, potential treatments, drug interactions, etc.

References:

1. https://medlineplus.gov/lab-tests/alkaline-phosphatase/
2. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diagnostics/22029-alkaline-phosphatase-alp#:~:text=phosphatase%20(ALP)%3F-,Alkaline%20phosphatase%20(ALP)%20is%20an%20enzyme%20that’s%20found%20throughout%20your,body%20that%20have%20important%20functions.
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6506124/#:~:text=During%20pregnancy%2C%20alkaline%20phosphatase%20may,frequent%20monitoring%20may%20be%20indicated.

(Does an abnormally elevated maternal alkaline phosphatase pose problems for the fetus?)

4. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18304940/

(Elevation of alkaline phosphatase in a pregnant patient with antiphospholipid syndrome: HELLP syndrome or not?)

5. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214911220300448?via%3Dihub

(Extreme elevations of alkaline phosphatase in pregnancy: A case report)