Acid phosphatase
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Acid phosphatase is a phosphatase, a type of enzyme, used to free attached phosphate groups from other molecules during digestion.It is basically a phospho homo esterase . It is stored in lysosomes and functions when these fuse with endosomes, which are acidified while they function; therefore, it has an acid pH optimum.
Different forms of acid phosphatase are found in different organs, and their serum levels are used as a diagnostic for disease in the corresponding organs. For example, elevated prostatic acid phosphatase levels may indicate the presence of prostate cancer.
Acid phosphatase catalyzes the following reaction at an optimal pH below 7:
Orthophosphoric monoester + H2O → alcohol + H3PO4
Differential Diagnosis
Differential Diagnosis
Common causes of Increased Acid Phosphatase
- Benign prostatic hypertrophy
- Bone metastases
- Breast Cancer
- Chronic Renal Disease
- Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC)
- Gaucher’s Disease
- Hemolysis
- Hyperparathyroidism
- Leukemia
- Liver disease
- Megaloblastic anemia
- Multiple Myeloma
- Osteogenesis imperfecta
- Osteosarcoma
- Paget’s Disease
- Polycythemia
- Prostate Cancer
- Prostatic manipulation
- Prostatitis
- Thrombocytosis
Causes by Organ System
| Cardiovascular | Rheumatic fever |
| Chemical / poisoning | No underlying causes |
| Dermatologic | No underlying causes |
| Drug Side Effect | Mirtazapine , Leuprolide , Histrelin , Leuprolide , Amifostine , Buserelin |
| Ear Nose Throat | Cholesteatoma , Mastoiditis in adults , Chronic otitis media |
| Endocrine | Hyperparathyroidism |
| Environmental | No underlying causes |
| Gastroenterologic | Diseases of the liver , Primary biliary cirrhosis , Jaundice , Hepatotoxicity , Alcoholic Hepatitis |
| Genetic | No underlying causes |
| Hematologic | Sickle cell disease , Murine Leukemia , Multiple myeloma , Hemolysed blood sample , Haemolytic anaemia , Disseminated intravascular coagulation , Diseases of spleen |
| Iatrogenic | No underlying causes |
| Infectious Disease | Rheumatic fever , Chronic otitis media, , Mastoiditis in adults , Cholesteatoma |
| Musculoskeletal / Ortho | Paget disease of bone , Osteopetrosis |
| Neurologic | No underlying causes |
| Nutritional / Metabolic | Glycogen storage disease , Gaucher disease |
| Obstetric/Gynecologic | No underlying causes |
| Oncologic | Prostate cancer , Extrapulmonary small cell cancer , Prostate cancer , Murine Leukemia , Multiple myeloma , Hairy cell leukemia , Bone metastases, |
| Ophthalmologic | No underlying causes |
| Overdose / Toxicity | No underlying causes |
| Psychiatric | No underlying causes |
| Pulmonary | Glucocorticoid-resistant asthma , Extrapulmonary small cell cancer , Diseases of lungs |
| Renal / Electrolyte | No underlying causes |
| Rheum / Immune / Allergy | Systemic lupus erythematosus , Myopathy , Rheumatic fever |
| Sexual | No underlying causes |
| Trauma | No underlying causes |
| Urologic | Prostatitis , Prostate cancer , Castration resistant prostate cancer , Prostate instrumentation |
| Dental | No underlying causes |
| Miscellaneous | Diseases of spleen |
Causes in Alphabetical Order
- Alcoholic Hepatitis
- Amifostine
- Bone disease in diabetes mellitus
- Bone metastases
- Benign prostatic hypertrophy
- Breast Cancer
- Buserelin
- Castration resistant prostate cancer
- Cholesteatoma
- Chronic otitis media
- Chronic Renal Disease
- Disease of liver
- Diseases of kidney
- Diseases of lungs
- Diseases of spleen
- Diseases of the liver
- Disseminated intravascular coagulation
- Extrapulmonary small cell cancer
- Gaucher disease
- Glucocorticoid-resistant asthma
- Glycogen storage disease
- Haemolytic anaemia
- Hairy cell leukemia
- Hemolysed blood sample
- Hepatotoxicity
- Hyperostosis corticalis deformans juvenilis
- Hyperparathyroidism
- Imiglucerase (glucocerebrosidase)
- Jaundice
- Leukemia
- Leuprolide
- Liver disease
- Histrelin
- Mastoiditis in adults
- Megaloblastic anemia
- Mirtazapine
- Multiple myeloma
- Murine Leukemia
- Myopathy
- Osteopetrosis (benign)
- Osteopetrosis (malignant)
- Osteogenesis imperfecta
- Osteosarcoma
- Paget disease of bone
- Polycythemia
- Primary biliary cirrhosis
- Prostate cancer
- Prostatitis
- Prostatic manipulation
- Rheumatic fever
- Sickle cell disease
- Sphingomyelinase deficiency
- Systemic lupus erythematosus
- Thrombocytosis
External links
External links
- Acid+phosphatase at the US National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
- EC 3.1.3.2
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