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A paediatric case of macro aspartate aminotransferase
Robert Lord1, Michael Fahie-Wilson, Sanjay Suri
1Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, Rotherham, UK. robert.lord@rothgen.nhs.uk
Abstract:
Macroenzymes are enzymes in plasma that have a higher molecular mass than the corresponding enzyme normally present under (patho) physiological conditions. Macro species have been described for most routinely measured enzymes, but with only a few reports of macro species with aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and in particular very few reports in children and adolescents. Routine biochemical analysis in a 15-year-old girl presenting with lower back pain revealed an isolated raised AST as part of a liver function test profile. Polyethylene glycol precipitation and gel filtration chromatography showed this to be a macro species.
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