Key Benefits

• Detect liver inflammation and damage caused by hepatitis.
• Spot early liver cell injury via ALT and AST elevations.
• Clarify severity and pattern using AST/ALT ratio and result trends.
• Flag bile flow problems when bilirubin rises, explaining jaundice risk.
• Gauge the liver’s protein-making capacity with albumin to assess chronic damage.
• Guide treatment timing and referrals by linking results with symptoms and exposures.
• Protect pregnancy and fertility by managing hepatitis that disrupts hormones and bile.
• Track response to antivirals or lifestyle changes with repeat ALT, AST, bilirubin.
• Best interpreted with hepatitis serologies, ultrasound, and your symptoms over time.

What are Hepatitis

Hepatitis biomarkers are measurable signs in blood that reveal whether the liver is confronting a hepatitis virus and how the organ is coping. They include viral fingerprints that show exposure and activity (antigens, antibodies, and viral DNA/RNA), plus indicators of liver cell injury and inflammation (aminotransferases), bile handling (bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase), and the liver’s ability to make vital proteins (albumin and clotting factors). Together, these markers map the story of infection and liver health: they identify the specific virus, distinguish current from past infection, estimate viral activity, and gauge the impact on liver tissue. This integrated picture helps clinicians decide when to treat, choose therapies, and track response or relapse over time. In short, hepatitis biomarker testing turns invisible processes into actionable signals, making it possible to detect disease early, understand severity, monitor recovery, and reduce the risk of complications like fibrosis and cirrhosis.

Why are Hepatitis biomarkers important?

Hepatitis biomarkers are the lab signals that show how the liver is handling injury, bile flow, and protein production—core jobs that influence energy metabolism, digestion, immunity, blood clotting, hormones, and brain function. The main ones are ALT and AST (cell injury enzymes), bilirubin (bile pigment), and albumin (a liver-made protein that keeps fluid in the bloodstream and carries hormones and drugs).

Typical healthy patterns: ALT and AST sit below about 35–40, and “optimal” tends toward the lower end. Bilirubin stays under about 1, with lower generally better. Albumin is usually around 4 to 5, with mid-to-high normal favored. Men often have slightly higher ALT/AST than women. Newborns can have higher bilirubin briefly. Pregnancy commonly lowers albumin due to dilution, while ALT/AST remain similar to nonpregnancy.

When values are low, ALT and AST are often simply normal; however, in advanced, burned-out hepatitis, they can paradoxically fall as fewer liver cells remain to leak enzymes, even as fatigue, fluid retention, and confusion from severe liver dysfunction emerge. Very low bilirubin is usually not worrisome. Low albumin, by contrast, flags reduced liver synthetic capacity, inflammation, or malnutrition; in chronic hepatitis it mirrors severity, bringing ankle swelling, ascites, and muscle loss, with greater impact in older adults and those with other illnesses.

Higher values tell the injury story: ALT/AST spikes suggest active hepatocellular damage; rising bilirubin signals impaired bile flow or processing, leading to jaundice, dark urine, pale stools, and itch.

Big picture: these markers integrate liver-cell integrity, bile handling, and protein synthesis, connecting to glucose control, lipid transport, clotting, kidney perfusion, and brain health. Their patterns help anticipate fibrosis, cirrhosis, portal hypertension, and cardiometabolic risk over time.

What Insights Will I Get?

Hepatitis biomarker testing matters because the liver is a central hub for energy production, nutrient and hormone metabolism, detoxification, and immune regulation. Inflammation of the liver can ripple across metabolism, cognition, cardiovascular stability, and immunity. At Superpower, we test ALT, AST, Bilirubin, and Albumin.

ALT (alanine aminotransferase) is an enzyme concentrated in hepatocytes; it rises when liver cells are inflamed or injured. AST (aspartate aminotransferase) is found in liver and muscle; it tracks liver injury but is less specific than ALT. Bilirubin is the heme breakdown pigment that the liver conjugates and excretes; it increases when clearance or bile flow is impaired. Albumin is the major plasma protein made by the liver; it reflects the organ’s synthetic capacity.

For stability, ALT and AST show the “injury signal.” Values in the normal range and steady over time suggest minimal active hepatocellular inflammation; sustained elevations, often ALT‑predominant in hepatitis, indicate ongoing injury. Bilirubin shows the “excretory signal.” Disproportionate increases point to impaired conjugation or cholestasis and align with jaundice risk. Albumin shows the “synthetic reserve.” Normal levels indicate preserved liver function and vascular oncotic stability; low levels signal reduced reserve and greater physiologic vulnerability.

Notes: Interpretation varies with age, sex, pregnancy (hemodilution), intense exercise or muscle injury (raises AST), hemolysis or fasting (alters bilirubin), genetic variants like Gilbert syndrome (unconjugated bilirubin), medications and alcohol, acute illness, and assay differences. Reference intervals differ by lab; trends against prior results add important context.