aspartate aminotransferase

noun

variants also aspartate transaminase

: an enzyme that promotes transfer of an amino group from glutamic acid to oxaloacetic acid and that when present in abnormally high levels in the blood is a diagnostic indication of heart attack or liver disease

Mildly to moderately elevated serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, or both are the most common and often the only laboratory abnormality found in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

—Paul Angulo, The New England Journal of Medicine

Liver function tests, including prothrombin time, were normal except for aspartate transaminase of 129 U/L.

—Ruiyong Yuan et al., The Journal of the American Medical Association

—abbreviation AST

called also glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase