7944 Elevated Serum Alkaline Phosphatase without other Abnormalities of Liver Associated Enzymes as an early Indicator of Glucose Intolerance: A Case Series

Abstract Disclosure: B.K. Bowens: None. C. Godar: None. D. LaChance: None. T.D. Hoang: None. M.K. Shakir: None. Glucose intolerance (GI) is defined as dysglycemia and includes impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance, and prediabetes. Early detection of GI could lead to appropriate treatment and delay the progression to diabetes mellitus. The cases below detail two patients with elevated serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) without other liver-associated enzyme abnormalities as an early indicator of GI. Case 1: A 54-year-old woman with a history of multinodular goiter status post thyroidectomy (2020), adrenal incidentaloma (2016), and asthma was incidentally found to have an elevated HbA1C (A1C) of 6.3% on screening labs in 2015. At that time, her ALP was 73 IU/L (ref 44−121). Her ALP levels slowly rose from 88 to 152 IU/L by September 2020. Work up did not reveal any etiological factors for the elevated ALP. One month later, HbA1C was found to be 7.6%. Metformin was initiated with improvement in A1C to 6.3% with an ALP of 130 IU/L. However, metformin was discontinued due to intolerance. In April 2023, her A1C was 9.3% with an ALP of 134 IU/L. A1C rose to 12.8% in Jun 2023 at which time she was started on insulin glargine, insulin aspart, sitagliptin, and was restarted on metformin. Her A1C decreased to 8.6% in August 2023 with normalization of ALP to 88 IU/L. Case 2: A 53-year-old woman with a history of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, obstructive sleep apnea, and non-ischemic cardiomyopathy in 2004 was found to have an elevated A1C of 5.8% on her screening labs in Jun 2019. Her ALP was notably in the high-normal range until Oct 2021 when it was found to be 138 IU/L. Her most recent A1C was 5.9% with an ALP of 142 IU/L. The patient was started on semaglutide (WegovyTM) briefly but was unable to tolerate the side effects. She was then started on metformin 500mg BID and dulaglutide with normalized ALP level. Discussion: Emerging evidence has shown that serum ALP activity is modestly increased in cardiometabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and peripheral arterial disease. These are increasingly being considered as inflammatory disorders and it has been shown that serum ALP level was positively and independently associated with metabolic syndrome both in men and women. It is possible that ALP could be an indicator of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) which is associated with GI. Typically, NAFLD presents with higher ALT and GGT, however, occasionally isolated enzyme elevations or no elevated enzymes at all may occur. Conclusion: These cases suggest that an isolated elevation in ALP could be indicative of GI. Patients incidentally found to have an elevated ALP should be worked up further for possible evidence of GI. Early detection of GI could delay progression to diabetes and decrease morbidity. Presentation: 6/1/2024