Dictionary:

alkaline

  (ăl'kə-lĭn, -līn')

1. Of, relating to, or containing an alkali.
2. 1. Having a pH greater than 7.
   2. Having a relatively low concentration of hydrogen ions.

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Having the reductions of an alkali. A pH level of 7.1 to 14 designates an alkaline solution.

Having the reactions of an alkali.

• a. incompatibilities — a basic chemical fact that acids and alkalis react together so that the mixing of them in medications is likely to render the medicine ineffective. The phenomenon is utilized in the treatment of poisoning when the objective is to combat the effects of an ingested substance.
• a. phosphatase — a nonspecific enzyme localized on cell membranes that hydrolyzes phosphate esters liberating inorganic phosphate and has an optimal pH of about 9.5. Serum alkaline phosphatase activity is elevated in hepatobiliary disease, especially in obstructive jaundice, and in bone diseases with increased osteoblastic activity such as hyperparathyroidism, osteitis deformans and bone cancer. The liver and bone tissue each produce a distinct isoenzyme. Called also AP, alkaline phosphomonoesterase, glycerophosphatase.
• a. picrate test — a technique for estimating urine creatinine levels.
• a. tide — see postprandial alkaline tide.
• a. urine — the urine of carnivores is acidic, that of herbivores is alkaline. The presence of an alkaline urine in a carnivore, provided the sample is fresh and uncontaminated, is an indication that the patient is alkalotic, but urine findings must always be interpreted with caution.