LDH
Meaning of LDH: LDH is the abbreviation for lactate dehydrogenase, an enzyme present in most body tissues whose blood level rises whenever cells are damaged or dying.
Definition of LDH
LDH is the standard abbreviation for lactate dehydrogenase, an enzyme that helps convert lactate to pyruvate and back as part of the pathway cells use to generate energy without oxygen. It is present in nearly every tissue, including the heart, liver, kidney, skeletal muscle, lung, and red blood cells.
Because LDH is so widespread, a raised blood level does not point to one specific organ or disease. It commonly increases with tissue injury from a heart attack, muscle damage, liver disease, infection, or the breakdown of red blood cells, and some cancers also raise it because their cells turn over quickly.
LDH occurs as several isoenzymes made of different combinations of protein subunits, and because these forms are distributed differently across organs, laboratories sometimes look at the isoenzyme pattern rather than the total level alone to help identify which tissue is involved.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
LDH was elevated on the metabolic panel obtained during the patient's hospital admission.
Good to know
An elevated LDH level is a nonspecific finding that can reflect injury to many different organs, so it is usually interpreted alongside other, more specific tests rather than on its own.