What are Metabolic panels?
The basic metabolic panel and comprehensive metabolic panel are very useful tools for determining how well the kidneys and liver are functioning, identifying electrolyte imbalances, and diagnosing other disorders. The basic metabolic panel determines the amount of sodium, chloride, potassium, carbon dioxide, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, and glucose in the blood. BUN and creatinine are metabolic waste products filtered out of the blood by the kidneys. The comprehensive metabolic panel includes the seven components of the basic metabolic panel, but it also checks the amount of calcium, albumin, bilirubin, total protein, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase, and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in your blood. Alkaline phosphatase, AST, and ALT are liver enzymes, so the test can determine how well your liver is functioning. The amount of BUN, creatinine, chloride, carbon dioxide, potassium, and sodium in your blood is an indicator of how well your kidneys function.