Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.6.1.2 (alanine aminotransferase)
 26,722 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The blood levels of soluble CD8 (sCD8) and soluble CD4 (sCD4) were measured in patients with various liver diseases, and their significance was studied. The levels of sCD8 were significantly higher in patients with chronic active hepatitis (CAH), autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), acute hepatitis (AH), fulminant hepatitis (FH) and liver cirrhosis (LC) as compared with the normal controls (NC), and correlated positively with those of GPT (r = 0.67, p < 0.001). In addition, a comparison of the exacerbation of CAH with remission showed that the sCD8 levels were significantly higher in the former. On the other hand, there was no significant rise in the level of sCD4 in patients with any liver disease, except FH, no definite relationship between sCD4 and sGPT, and no consistant tendency in sCD4 levels between exacerbation and remission. The reason for an insignificant elevation of the sCD4 level is the fact that in hepatitis the CD8-positive cells, which are cytotoxic T cells, are directly involved in hepatocyte damage; therefore the CD8-positive cells are predominantly activated, while the activity of the CD4-positive cells is considered to be lower. Instead of determining the number of CD4-positive cells and CD8-positive cells in the mononuclear cells of peripheral blood, serum sCD4 and sCD8 levels can be measured simply and inexpensively. Thus, these levels may be useful immune markers.
 ...
PMID:Serum levels of soluble CD4 and CD8 in patients with chronic viral hepatitis. 795 75

A 51-year-old woman who had been treated for primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) was admitted to our hospital for evaluation of unexplained, isolated, persistently increased aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activity. Results of laboratory tests on admission showed: AST 171 KU, alanine aminotransferase 28 KU, and anti-mitochondrial titer 1/1280. Results of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBs Ag) and hepatitis C virus antibody (HCV Ab; C100-3) assays were negative. Histology of a liver biopsy specimen was compatible with a diagnosis of PBC (stage III of Scheuer's classification). The molecular size of serum AST was estimated to be more than 500,000 by high-performance size-exclusion liquid chromatography. Electrophoretic analysis showed an abnormal band of AST between supernatant AST (sAST) and mitochondrial AST (mAST), which band was characteristic of AST-immunoglobulin complexes (AST-Ig). Ouchterlony double-diffusion and immunoprecipitation tests identified the immunoglobulin component as IgM. The presence of AST-Ig appeared to be responsible for the elevated serum AST.
 ...
PMID:Aspartate aminotransferase-linked immunoglobulin complexes in serum of a patient with primary biliary cirrhosis. 801 13

In order to evaluate the efficacy of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in the treatment of Chinese patients with primary biliary cirrhosis, a short-term, randomized, double-blind controlled, cross-over study was done with long-term follow up. In the first part of the study, 12 patients were randomly chosen to receive either UDCA 600 mg/day for 3 months followed by a placebo for 3 months or a placebo for 3 months followed by UDCA for 3 months. The clinical symptoms of pruritus improved when the patients were receiving UDCA but became worse when receiving a placebo. Mean serum levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALPase), gamma-glutamyl transferase (gamma-GT), total bilirubin, cholesterol, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase all decreased below the baseline values when receiving UDCA treatment and all increased above the baseline values when receiving the placebo. The difference was statistically significant. In the second part of the study, 19 patients received long-term UDCA treatment (mean 20 months). The clinical symptoms of pruritus improved in 90% of the pruritic patients. Serum levels of ALPase, gamma-GT and ALT fell significantly from the pretreatment values, 6, 12 and from the mean 20 months after UDCA treatment. Serum levels of total bilirubin fell significantly 6 and 12 months after UDCA treatment but did not reach statistical significance at the last follow up. No patient lost antimitochondrial antibody and elevated immunoglobulin levels did not improve significantly, but the Mayo clinical risk score improved significantly after long-term UDCA treatment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
 ...
PMID:Ursodeoxycholic acid in the treatment of primary biliary cirrhosis: a short-term, randomized, double-blind controlled, cross-over study with long-term follow up. 810 Jan 53

Glucocorticoids are used in patients with liver diseases in the following cases: The major indication for glucocorticoids in liver disease is autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). Although prednisone at 30 to 60 mg/day is widely used throughout the world, the usual starting dose in Japan is 15 to 20 mg/day with the maintenance dose adequate at 5 to 10 mg/day since AIH in Japan is usually mild with few severe cases and since the weight of Japanese patients is generally lighter. Another indication is in chronic hepatitis B as corticosteroid withdrawal therapy. Prednisone at 30 to 40 mg/day is administered for three weeks and then withdrawn. If the administration of prednisone increases the level of HBV, the withdrawal of prednisone elevates GPT and reduces HBV. Other indications include primary biliary cirrhosis and fulminant hepatitis but only in limited situations.
 ...
PMID:[Synthetic glucocorticoid therapy in liver diseases]. 816 73

Seven patients with primary biliary cirrhosis were treated with rifampicin administered for 2 weeks in a daily dose 450-600 mg. Due to the treatment the itch disappeared completely in 4 and decreased significantly in 3 patients. As shown by the antipyrine test, half-life and clearance of antipyrine returned to normal suggesting cytochrome P-450 induction as a result of hydroxylation activity. There was a tendency to lowering of bilirubin, cholesterol, alkaline phosphatase, asparagine--and alanine aminotransferase against an increase in gammaglobulins. The differences were, however, insignificant. Rifampicin tolerance was satisfactory.
 ...
PMID:[The treatment of primary biliary liver cirrhosis with rifampicin]. 821 5

We measured plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1) concentrations in 20 healthy controls and 63 patients with liver diseases including 9 cases of acute hepatitis (AH), 14 cases of chronic hepatitis (CH), 24 cases of liver cirrhosis (LC), 11 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma with LC (HCC), 3 of primary biliary cirrhosis and 2 of idiopathic portal hypertension. ET-1 levels in AH (5.07 +/- 2.54 pg/ml, mean +/- SD), LC (3.71 +/- 1.17) and HCC (3.08 +/- 0.93) were significantly higher than those in healthy controls (2.18 +/- 0.37). ET-1 levels in AH, LC and HCC were also significantly higher than those in CH (2.05 +/- 0.61). ET-1 levels showed negative correlations with serum albumin levels and Ch-Ease activities, and positive correlations with serum bilirubin levels, AST and ALT activities. However, there was no correlation between plasma ET-1 concentrations and concentrations of serum thrombomodulin which is known to be a marker of injured vascular endothelial cells. In cirrhotic patients, ET-1 levels were significantly influenced by the presence of ascites. The results of the present study suggest that plasma ET-1 concentrations may be a useful clinical indicator for use in the follow-up of patients with chronic liver diseases, e.g., progression from CH to LC, and change in grade of portal hypertension and decompensation in LC.
 ...
PMID:Plasma endothelin-1 concentrations are elevated in acute hepatitis and liver cirrhosis but not in chronic hepatitis. 822 17

Whether primary biliary cirrhosis recurs after orthotopic liver transplantation remains a controversial issue. Sixty consecutive patients with primary biliary cirrhosis with at least 1 yr of follow-up after liver transplantation were studied. All patients were treated with triple-drug immunosuppression (cyclosporine, prednisone, azathioprine). Hepatic biochemical parameters and protocol liver biopsy specimens were evaluated 1 wk, 3 wk, 4 mo and yearly after orthotopic liver transplantation and at times of liver dysfunction. Antimitochondrial antibody titers and IgM levels were determined at 4 mo and yearly. At the time of last follow-up, all patients had marked symptomatic improvement compared with their pretransplant condition, and 91% of the patients had normal hepatic biochemical parameters, including serum levels of alkaline phosphatase, bilirubin, ALT and IgM. In addition, all patients had significant decreases in antimitochondrial antibody titer (p = 0.0001) and significant decreases in serum levels of IgM (p = 0.0001). Forty-one of the 60 patients had near-normal liver histological appearance. Of those with abnormal histological appearance, five patients, 2 to 6 yr after orthotopic liver transplantation, had histological features typical of a florid duct lesion, suggesting recurrent primary biliary cirrhosis. All five patients with portal granulomas had normal hepatic biochemical values and were clinically asymptomatic. Two of the five patients had persistent antimitochondrial antibody titers. We consider the documented histological changes highly suggestive of recurrence of primary biliary cirrhosis after liver transplantation but, so far, have no evidence that the condition in these patients is progressive.
 ...
PMID:Histological evidence for recurrence of primary biliary cirrhosis after liver transplantation. 776 28

To evaluate the effect of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) treatment according to the severity of primary biliary cirrhosis, a long-term prospective open trial in 54 consecutive PBC patients, 19 with histological stage I-II, 24 stage III, and 11 stage IV was carried out. UDCA was administered at a dosage of 250 mg twice a day. Clinical and biochemical assessment (AST, ALT, alkaline phosphatase, GGT, bilirubin) were done initially and every six months. Serum hyaluronate (HY) and type III procollagen amino propeptide (PIIIP) were also evaluated, as they are considered markers of fibrosis and prognosis. All patients were followed-up for at least two years (24-36 months); results were analyzed at 24 months after treatment. The composite pruritus score failed to show significant changes during UDCA treatment, while intensity score demonstrated a significant reduction from the 6th month. Patients with histological stage I-II disease had a significant decrease of liver enzymes (AST, ALT, alkaline phosphatase, GGT) after six months and maintained the levels up to 24 months. The patients with histological stage III disease showed a significant decrease of AST, ALT, alkaline phosphatase (but not GGT) up to month 18; subsequently AST and ALT serum levels increased, reaching values comparable to baseline by 24 months. In patients with histological stage IV disease no significant change in liver enzymes was observed during the follow-up. HY and PIIIP serum levels failed to show significant changes during UDCA treatment in the three groups of patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
 ...
PMID:Different response to ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in primary biliary cirrhosis according to severity of disease. 828 73

This study reports on a group of 20 patients with an initial diagnosis of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) whose serum tested negative for antimitochondrial antibodies by immunofluorescence. All had a clinical history compatible with primary biliary cirrhosis, and results of biochemical, histological, and radiological investigations were consistent with this diagnosis despite the absence of antimitochondrial antibodies by immunofluorescence. For comparison, these patients were matched for sex and serum bilirubin with 20 antimitochondrial antibody positive (> 1:160) and histologically confirmed primary biliary cirrhosis patients who served as controls. Serum samples from both groups were retested blindly for antimitochondrial antibodies using immunoblotting and for antibodies to the major M2 mitochondrial autoantigens by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Three antimitochondrial antibody immunofluorescence negative patients had antimitochondrial antibodies by immunoblotting and ELISA; the remaining 17 patients were confirmed negative by all methods. The antimitochondrial antibody immunofluorescence positive controls were verified by immunoblotting or ELISA, or both. All 17 patients negative for antimitochondrial antibodies had antinuclear antibodies, often in high titres, compared with 3/17 of the antimitochondrial antibody positive controls (p = 0.0001). Additionally, the antimitochondrial antibody negative group also had significantly higher smooth muscle antibody titres (p = 0.03) and lower serum IgM (p = 0.01) and aspartate aminotransferase (p = 0.03) activities than the antimitochondrial antibody positive controls. Analysis of clinical findings, histological tests, serum bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase, and IgG, disclosed no significant differences between the two groups. This paper describes a group of patients with the clinical and histological features of PBC but who do not fulfil the usual criteria necessary to make this diagnosis. Because they also have very high titres of antinuclear antibodies, smooth muscle antibodies, and comparatively low IgM and aspartate aminotransferase activities, we believe they are distinct from PBC and have a syndrome of autoimmune cholangitis.
 ...
PMID:Antimitochondrial antibody negative primary biliary cirrhosis: a distinct syndrome of autoimmune cholangitis. 830 80

Six female patients (mean age 48.5 years) suffering from primary biliary cirrhosis were evaluated during ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA, Ursofalk, 10 mg/kg/day) therapy. The following examinations were performed: liver function tests, immunological studies [electrophoresis, immunoglobulin determination, T-B lymphocyte rate, antibody dependent cellularly cytotoxicity (ADCC), natural killer (NK) activity, blast transformation]. The patients showed a definite clinical improvement. Short term therapy (1 month) resulted in a decrease of gamma-GT, SGPT (ALT), SGOT (AST), bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, cholesterol, triglyceride. The longer period of therapy (9 month) was associated with decrement in transaminase and gamma-GT levels. The statistically significant decrease of the IgG level, NK activity and spontaneous blast transformation during therapy suggest a potential immunosuppressive effect of the UDCA treatment. The authors believe that the use of UDCA could be effective in the treatment of primary biliary cirrhosis.
 ...
PMID:[Ursodeoxycholic acid therapy in biliary cirrhosis]. 841 54


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>