metaboliqBlood test explained
Liver function test (LFT): ALT, AST and GGT ranges, and liver fat
Included in the ₹1,799 home panel: collected at home where your pincode is served, and read by a doctor.
Start my free checkA liver function test is a group of enzymes and proteins that show whether liver cells are under strain and whether the liver is doing its job. For anyone carrying weight around the middle, it is often the first place fatty liver shows.
What it is
What the Liver function test measures
ALT and AST are enzymes that sit inside liver cells and leak into the blood when those cells are stressed. GGT and ALP come mainly from the bile ducts. Bilirubin is a pigment the liver clears, and albumin and total protein show how well the liver is making the proteins the body needs.
Each marker points somewhere different. ALT is the most liver-specific enzyme; AST also comes from muscle; GGT rises with alcohol and with fatty liver; ALP also comes from bone. That is why the report is read as a pattern rather than one number at a time.
Why it matters
Why it matters for weight and metabolism
Fatty liver — now often called MASLD, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease — is the commonest liver condition in India, found in roughly one in three adults in pooled Indian studies. It travels with fat around the organs, insulin resistance and raised triglycerides, and a mildly raised ALT is frequently its first sign on a report.
The liver is also one of the first organs to respond when things improve. Liver fat tends to fall as diet quality, activity and sleep get better, and a doctor can track that through the same enzymes over months.
Reading the result
How a result is usually read
Standard reference points, not a reading of anybody's own report. The interval your laboratory prints is the one that applies, and a doctor reads the number beside the rest of the panel and your history.
- ALT
- Upper limits vary by laboratory and are commonly printed around 35 to 45 U/L; some specialist guidance uses lower limits, especially for women.
- AST to ALT pattern
- In fatty liver ALT is usually higher than AST. A reversed pattern points a doctor towards other causes or more advanced change.
- GGT
- Raised with alcohol, fatty liver and some other conditions; useful alongside ALP to locate the source.
- Albumin and bilirubin
- Normal values show the liver's making and clearing work is intact.
Sources: American College of Gastroenterology clinical guideline on abnormal liver chemistries, 2017; Indian National Association for Study of the Liver guidance on fatty liver. Your laboratory's printed interval applies.
At home
How it is collected at home
A phlebotomist from a partnered NABL-accredited laboratory draws one blood sample at your address, in a morning slot, and the laboratory reports the results to the doctor who reads your panel. Home collection depends on your pincode, which is checked before you pay.
Fasting is not strictly required, but the test is usually drawn with the fasting metabolic panel.
A hard gym session in the two days before can raise AST (and sometimes ALT) from muscle, and alcohol in the days before can raise GGT. An ordinary couple of days before the draw gives the clearest picture.
The Liver function test is part of the core of every Metaboliq panel, whatever else a doctor adds.
The limit
Its limits, stated plainly
Normal liver enzymes do not rule out fatty liver: many people with liver fat have a normal ALT. Enzymes also cannot measure scarring. When fatty liver is suspected, a doctor may use an ultrasound, a liver stiffness scan or a score such as FIB-4, calculated from routine results.
Read beside it
The tests a doctor reads with this one
A body is read as a whole. These are the results this one is most often read against.
- Lipid profile test
What a lipid profile measures — LDL, HDL, triglycerides and total cholesterol — the usual ranges, the Indian pattern behind them, and how to prepare for the test.
- HOMA-IR test
How HOMA-IR is calculated from fasting glucose and fasting insulin, what the score suggests about insulin resistance, and why no single cut-off fits everyone.
- Kidney function test
What a kidney function test measures — creatinine, eGFR, urea, uric acid and salts — how eGFR stages are read, and why it is checked before a plan starts.
Conditions it helps a doctor read
Questions
Questions people ask about the Liver function test
Can my liver test be normal if I have fatty liver?
Yes. A normal ALT is common in fatty liver, which is why a doctor reads the liver test alongside waist size, triglycerides, HOMA-IR and, where needed, an ultrasound rather than relying on the enzymes alone.
Does heavy exercise affect liver test results?
It can. AST, and to a lesser degree ALT, are also released by working muscle, so a hard training session in the day or two before the test can raise them. Keep training light before the draw.
What is GGT on a liver report?
Gamma-glutamyl transferase is an enzyme from the liver and bile ducts. It rises with alcohol, with fatty liver and with bile-duct problems, and a doctor uses it with ALP to judge where a raised value is coming from.
One next step
Have it read by a doctor, with the rest of your panel
Health assessment: ₹1,799. Blood test, 45+ metabolic markers, Collected at your home, A doctor reviews your results, A decision on whether this is right for you, A nutritionist on your care team, Health Coach, A personalised plan around day 3. A registered doctor reads every result against your history and writes your plan.