56848 5' Nucleotidase, Serum (5NTD)

5'NT; 5NT; ABC; ABCD​​

​Aiding diagnosis and monitoring of hepatobiliary disease and bile duct obstructions

Ruling out bone pathology as the source of elevated serum alkaline phosphatase

​Centrifuge and aliquot serum into plastic vial.​

Gross hemolysis

​​Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is known to cross-react with 5'-nucleotidase (5'NT) measurements. Placental ALP of 100 U/L gives a 5'NT result of 0.27 U/L. Accordingly, specimens with elevations of any ALP isoenzyme significantly above normal circulating activity must be interpreted cautiously.​

5'-nucleotidase is neither specific nor sensitive enough to be used as a cancer screen.

Do not interpret serum 5' NT activity as absolute evidence of the presence or the absence of malignant disease. Use serum 5' NT in conjunction with information from the clinical evaluation of the patient and other diagnostic procedures.

Values obtained with different assay methods or kits may be different and cannot be used interchangeably.

​5'-Nucleotidase (5'NT) is an enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of the phosphate group from 5'-nucleotides. Increased enzyme levels in sera are associated with certain forms of liver disease, such as intra- or extra-hepatic obstruction, and particularly in cases of hepatic carcinoma and in mastectomy patients with recurrent metastases. 5'NT is specific to hepatobiliary disease, which can make it useful in conjunction with other liver enzyme activity assays, like gamma glutamyl transferase, to differentiate between an increase in alkaline phosphatase due to cholestatic liver disease rather than bone disease (Paget disease).​

​An elevation of 5'-nucleotidase (5'NT) activity may be seen in all forms of liver disease, although the highest elevations are seen in intra- or extra-hepatic biliary obstruction.​

5'-nucelotidase may be more specific for intrahepatic cholestasis than gamma glutamyl transferase.

Elevation of 5'NT activity is not associated with skeletal disease. Thus, measurement of 5'NT in serum can be used to differentiate observed elevations of alkaline phosphatase due to skeletal disease vs. hepatobiliary disease.​