My son has had elevated AST (SGOT) levels off and on for a couple of years. The doctors have been monitoring this. Recently he had labs drawn, everything was normal except the AST was 114. My son is eleven years old 4 ft 9 inches and 79 pounds. He is very athletic and eats a well balanced diet. I have read that too much protein can be bad for AST levels. He does not take ANY medications, only a multivitamin. The doctors have ruled out all Hepatits, Wilson's disease, toxicity of metals, and thyroid problems. Does anyone have any idea what could cause this? Two years ago his lab work was sent to the University of Michigan and still they had no answers.

A low protein diet would be very difficult for growing boy, not to mention hard on mom. Livers do so many unique and wonderful things. Have you tried milk thistle or dandelion root? There are plants in this world made by 'god' to cure all illness.

Lish, I am sorry to hear your son is going through this. I'll try to help the best I can.

It seems as though your son's AST (AGOT) level is approximately 3 times higher than it should be. I notice that a few of the disorders have been ruled out, however, I am curious if he has been tested for the following:

Pancreatitis
Biliary tract obstruction
Cardiac arrhythmias
Congestive heart failur
Dermatomyositis
Liver tumors
Muscular dystrophy

As well as
Hemolytic anemia
Pericarditis
Or
Pulmonary infarction.

All of these disorders are common with an AST (SGOT) that is 3 times higher than normal limits. (I left out the ones you already mentioned)

Lish, sorry if I misunderstood you about the protein. Working in dietetics, we created low protein diets for many people with liver problems. I hope the doctors can find the problem and treat it.

Hi Lish,

I would suggest asking to see a gastroenterologist specialist for testing. One thing I find with GP's is that they do not have the knowledge or the interest to know of all different liver diseases. I have liver disease myself and I also work for the Canadian Liver Foundation in Vancouver, BC.

What is the colour like of your son? Some other signs of liver disease could be yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), itchiness, brain fog... and many more. There are over 100 different forms of liver disease and I agree that you can probably rule out some hepatitis. However, hepatitis includes A, B & C through to G. There is also Autoimmune Hepatitis (which I have) which is a hereditary disfunction of the immune system where your immune system thinks that your liver is a foreing object.

Of course, there are other forms of childhood liver disease and I would suggest getting a referral to see a specialist to confirm that he isn't dealing with something like that.

Best of luck and take care.

For more information on liver disease, you can visit www.liver.ca