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

Clinical and immunological findings of 74 patients with chronic hepatitis C have been reported and experiences with interferon-alpha treatment of 31 patients are summarized. In addition, the first results of anti-HCV screening of blood donors are also briefly described. Transfusion in the history was noted in 69% of patients and the time, elapsed from the transfusion to the diagnosis was a mean of 7.15 +/- 8.1 years. Concerning the severity of the liver disease, chronic persistent hepatitis was established in 40%, active hepatitis in 45% and cirrhosis in 15% of the patients, respectively. Cholestasis was recorded in 32% of the cases. A significant elevation of serum immunoglobulin levels was noted in 83%, an antibody to liver specific protein (anti-LSP) has occurred in 80%, cryoglobulinaemia in 44% and circulating immune complexes in 33% of the patients. Natural killer cell activity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells significantly decreased. HLA B8 and DR3 antigens were found with elevated frequency (36.6% and 42.1%). Recombinant interferon-alpha at a weekly dose of 3MU thrice, for six months, has normalized serum alanine aminotransferase in 45% of patients and a sustained remission was found in 26%. The treatment resulted in the clearance of HCV-RNS from the serum in 40% of patients and that well correlated with the complete remission. In the good responders, a decrease in CD4+ cell count and a moderate decrease in CD8+ cell count as well as a transient rise in B cell count were seen during the treatment. Mitogen-induced lymphoproliferative response and natural killer cell activity increased. Predictors of response were as follows: female sex, shorter time elapsed from transfusion, absence of HLA, A1, B8, DR3 and serum anti-HBc negativity. Anti-HCV has been found in 0.33--0.38% of blood donors screened, and it is suggested, that a liver disease accompanied with elevated serum alanine aminotransferase, may be present in about 25-30% of anti-HCV positive symptom-free persons.
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PMID:[Clinical immunological features and interferon therapy in chronic hepatitis C]. 784 65

We examined the quasispecies of the hepatitis C virus genome in 28 patients with liver disease of varying severity. Nucleotide sequences of the hepatitis C virus genome spanning the region from the core to envelope were used to calculate the nucleotide diversity: 0.58% +/- 0.88% in 5 patients with acute hepatitis, 0.85% +/- 0.62% in 5 patients with chronic persistent hepatitis, 1.79% +/- 0.92% in 11 patients with chronic active hepatitis, 3.05% +/- 1.26% in 4 patients with cirrhosis and 2.71% +/- 1.47% in 3 patients with cirrhosis complicated by hepatocellular carcinoma. Thus the intrapatient variation in nucleotides increased significantly with severity of liver disease (p < 0.01), except in those cases of cirrhosis complicated by hepatocellular carcinoma. Multivariate analysis including the histology, duration of infection, age, sex, history of blood transfusion and serum level of ALT at diagnosis as variables showed that the histological finding was the strongest independent factor of the nucleotide diversity (p = 0.003). Serial analysis of the genome in three patients demonstrated that the intra-patient variation in nucleotides increased with the progression of liver disease. The magnitude of the intrapatient variation in nucleotides deduced from the observed changes in the patients was correlated with the mean serum levels of ALT. These findings suggest that the degree of diversity of HCV quasispecies is related to the progression of liver disease.
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PMID:Degree of diversity of hepatitis C virus quasispecies and progression of liver disease. 792 45

HBsAg-positive patients with end-stage renal failure have a high prevalence of asymptomatic chronic hepatitis. In order to determine the usefulness of hepatic cytology in the diagnosis of liver disease, the findings of hepatic needle core biopsy (NCB) and fine needle aspirative biopsy (FNAB) were compared in 15 HBsAg-positive uremic patients. The patients, aged 42 +/- 12 years, 14 males, were on hemodialysis for periods ranging from 13 to 105 months. The NCB was processed by standard histologic and immunohistochemical techniques and FNAB by the conventional technique, using the total corrected increment score (TCI). Plasma samples were collected for evaluation of hepatic function and for viral serologic tests. In 15 patients a diagnosis was made by NCB: normal, 7 cases; chronic persistent hepatitis, 4 cases; and chronic active hepatitis, 4 cases. When the patients were allocated into two groups according to the severity of the liver histologic findings [group I--minor changes (normal+chronic persistent hepatitis), 11 patients; group II--major changes (chronic active hepatitis), 4 patients], statistically higher values were found in the major changes group for alanine aminotransferase (49 +/- 33 vs. 24 +/- 11, p = 0.04), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase [148 +/- 53 vs. 38 +/- 28, p < (minor) 0.02] and TCI (3.7 +/- 1.2 vs. 2.5 +/- 0.8, p = 0.04). In conclusion, liver FNAB can be useful as a screening procedure for the identification of liver histologic changes (minor or major) in uremic HBsAG-positive patients.
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PMID:Fine needle aspirative biopsy of the liver in HBsAG-positive patients with end-stage renal failure. 793 57

Nine patients with chronic hepatitis C who responded with normal or near-normal serum alanine aminotransferase (s-ALT) levels during an initial interferon alpha-2b treatment course, but who had subsequent relapses with elevated s-ALT levels after treatment cessation, were retreated once (3 patients) or twice (6 patients). The liver histological findings before the first and after the last treatment course were compared. The mean follow-up time between the initial and the follow-up assessment was 44 months (range 34-53). The histological findings were classified as chronic persistent hepatitis (CPH), chronic active hepatitis (CAH) or cirrhosis (Ci) by using a numerical scoring system assessing each portal zone separately. In the initial biopsy, 2 patients were classified as having CPH and 7 as having CAH, 2 of whom with signs of cirrhosis. According to the conventional classification, 4/9 (44%) patients improved after treatment, 3/9 (33%) remained unchanged, and 2/9 (22%) deteriorated. The mean histological scores for the necro-inflammatory parameters: portal inflammation, piecemeal necrosis, spotty necrosis and fibrosis improved, but the changes did not reach statistical significance. We conclude that repeated interferon alpha-2b treatment courses are probably beneficial in patients with chronic hepatitis C who show a non-sustained response to interferon, since studies on the natural course of chronic hepatitis C have indicated a progressive deterioration of the histological picture in many untreated patients, most marked among those with CAH.
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PMID:Long-term histological outcome in patients with chronic hepatitis C treated repeatedly with interferon alpha-2b without sustained response. 798 68

The efficacy and safety of sequential treatment with prednisone and interferon was evaluated in a randomized, controlled study on 43 children with biopsy proven HBsAg/HBeAg/hepatitis B virus-DNA positive, anti-delta negative, chronic hepatitis (34 chronic persistent hepatitis, 9 chronic active hepatitis). Patients received either a 1-month course of prednisone (0.6 to 0.3 mg/kg per day) followed by interferon alfa-2a (3 MU/m2, thrice weekly, for 12 months; 22 patients) or no treatment (21 patients). At the end of the study (20 months), clearance of hepatitis B virus-DNA and HBeAg seroconversion were observed in nine (41%) of the patients treated with prednisone and interferon and in two (9.5%) of the untreated controls (p = 0.020). Two of the treated patients who lost HBeAg, also cleared HBsAg. In the treated group, 13 (59%) patients had stable normal levels of alanine aminotransferase on their last examination. The baseline serum level of hepatitis B virus-DNA was an important predictor of response. In fact, HBeAg clearance was observed in 75% of patients with a baseline hepatitis B virus-DNA level lower than 100 pg/ml and in none with a level above 100 pg/ml. We suggest that combined treatment with prednisone followed by alfa-interferon may be safe and effective in inducing a stable clearance of HBeAg and, in some cases, of HBsAg in children with chronic hepatitis B and with a low level of viral replication. For children with high levels of viral replication, this regimen seems to be ineffective.
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PMID:Treatment of chronic hepatitis B in children with prednisone followed by alfa-interferon: a controlled randomized study. 800 95

We studied hepatitis C virus carriers with normal liver function to evaluate the histological features of their livers and the replicative levels of hepatitis C virus. Liver biopsies were performed in 22 hepatitis C virus carriers with persistently normal ALT levels. Hepatitis C virus RNA in serum was quantified with a competitive assay that combined reverse transcription and the polymerase chain reaction, which is based on co-amplification of the target RNA with known amounts of synthetic mutated RNA. Three patients had normal livers on histological study, whereas the other 19 had chronic persistent hepatitis, with lymphoid infiltrates or aggregates in portal tracts commonly observed but intralobular inflammatory changes absent or minimal. The titer of hepatitis C virus RNA (logarithmic transformed copy number per milliliter of serum) varied from 4.0 to 8.0 (mean +/- S.D.: 6.3 +/- 1.1); it was significantly lower in the three patients with normal livers (4.3 +/- 0.2) than in those with chronic persistent hepatitis with mild (6.4 +/- 0.8, n = 11) or moderate (7.1 +/- 0.5, n = 8) portal inflammation. The titer of hepatitis C virus RNA was correlated with the total score (r = 0.68) and the score for portal inflammation (r = 0.68) in the histological activity index. These results indicated that there seem to be "healthy carriers" of hepatitis C virus with extremely low levels of viral replication. However, in most hepatitis C virus carriers with persistently normal ALT levels, there are inflammatory changes in the portal tracts, with severity depending on the replicative levels of hepatitis C virus.
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PMID:Serum hepatitis C virus RNA quantity and histological features of hepatitis C virus carriers with persistently normal ALT levels. 813 59

Recent advances in the medical and surgical treatment of chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis have made it increasingly important to develop noninvasive tests of liver function. Our study has evaluated the hepatic conversion of lidocaine to its primary metabolite monoethylglycinexylodide and compared this with liver histological findings in 225 patients with chronic hepatitis (161 with hepatitis C, 23 with hepatitis B, 21 with autoimmune hepatitis and 20 with cryptogenic hepatitis). One hundred seven (47.7%) patients had cirrhosis at the time of evaluation. A decline in monoethylglycinexylodide production was observed with worsening liver histological conditions from a mean of 81.5 +/- 7.0 ng/ml in patients with chronic persistent hepatitis to 61.2 +/- 5.5 ng/ml for chronic active hepatitis and 20.9 +/- 1.5 ng/ml in patients with cirrhosis (p < 0.05). A further stepwise decline in monoethylglycine xylodide production was observed with worsening Child class: from 25.5 +/- 2.2 ng/ml for class A patients to 8.9 +/- 1.4 ng/ml for patients with Child class C disease (p < 0.05). All patients with monoethylglycinexylodide production less than 20 ng/ml had cirrhosis confirmed on histological examination. In contrast, no relationship was observed between liver histological status and serum transaminases (AST or ALT), bilirubin, albumin and prothrombin time. Thirty-five patients underwent repeat histological evaluation and monoethylglycinexylodide testing after receiving at least 6 mo treatment for chronic hepatitis (interferon for hepatitis B and C and corticosteroids for autoimmune hepatitis). The change in monoethylglycinexylodide production observed in these patients was a linear function of the change in Knodell histological index (r = 0.73, p < 0.005).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Hepatic lidocaine metabolism and liver histology in patients with chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis. 776 26

Schistosomiasis and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection are very common in Brazil but the interrelationships between the two infections are poorly understood. We have undertaken a detailed serological study of the prevalence of HBV markers in 189 Brazilian patients with chronic schistosomiasis mansoni, 46 with hepatointestinal (HIS) and 143 with hepatosplenic (HSS) schistosomiasis, 12 of the latter having decompensated liver disease (HSSD), and in 50 control patients. Sera were tested for HBsAg, anti-e, anti-HBc, anti-HBs and HBV-DNA. Eighty-three (44%) of the 189 schistosoma patients had at least one marker of HBV infection, 18 of whom (10%) were seropositive for HBsAg. All the controls were HBsAg negative, but ten (20%) had anti-HBc and anti-HBs. There was no significant difference in the frequency of these markers between HIS (14/46, 30.4%), HSSC (43/131, 34.5%), and the controls. Among the HBsAg-positive patients, one had HIS (HBV-DNA negative), seven had HSSC (one HBV-DNA positive) and ten had HSSD (six HBV-DNA positive), a significant association of HBV carriage with HSSD (P << 0.001). Mean (+/- SD) ALT values were significantly (P < 0.001) higher in HBsAg-positive HSSD patients (70.7 +/- 18 IU/liter) than in those with HSSC (29.5 +/- 15 IU/liter). Liver biopsies were performed in 12 HBsAg-positive patients (one with HIS, three with HSSC, and eight with HSSD) and in 50 HBsAg-negative HSSC patients. Seven of the eight HSSD patients had chronic active hepatitis with cirrhosis, and one had inactive cirrhosis. All three patients with HSSC and the one with HIS had chronic persistent hepatitis, with periportal fibrosis in three.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Hepatitis B virus infection in schistosomiasis mansoni. 815 15

This study was carried out to evaluated the role of the fibronectin (FN) in chronic liver diseases. For these reasons FN plasmatic concentration was assayed in patient with different degrees of chronic liver disease. For these reasons FN plasmatic concentration was assayed in patient with different degrees of chronic liver disease; the correlation between FN and the most common parameters of liver function was also evaluated. Moreover we also correlated FN plasma levels with laminin and the N-terminale peptide of type III procollagen, serum levels, that are through to be markers of fibrogenesis. 172 patients were studied: twenty-one patients suffering from chronic persistent hepatitis (CPH), 45 from chronic active hepatitis (CAH) and 106 from liver cirrhosis (LC). Last patients were also divided according the Child-Pugh's classification. Control group was composed of 74 healthy blood donors. Significant reduction of plasmatic levels of FN was found in the LC groups in comparison with control group (p < 0.0001) and also with CPH group (p < 0.01) and with CAH group (p < 0.0001). Lower values of FN were found in the LC group at advanced stage (Child-Pugh's B and C classes). In the group of CAH significant correlations with the parameters of cholestasis (GGT, APh, Tot. Bil. p < 0.005) were found, while in the group of LC significant correlations both with the parameters of synthesis (Alb. and Protr. time p < 0.01) and necrosis (AST/ALT p < 0.001). A negative correlation was also found between FN and spleen volume (p < 0.05). No correlation between FN and the parameters of fibrosis was found.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:[Plasma fibronectin in chronic liver diseases]. 821 Jun 24

A 27-peptide fragment derived from natural HDAg sequence was selected, identified and synthesized. It was used to develop an EIA method for detection of anti-HD. The 27-peptide possessed the similar antigenicity with the corresponding fragment of natural HDAg, and could also compete with natural HDAg for serum anti-HD. High specificity and no cross-reaction were found among the peptide and normal human sera, normal mice sera and sera positive with HAV, HBV or HCV antibody alone. 36 serum samples were identified previously, with Abbott kits with a coincident rate of 97.2%. Anti-HD was also detected in serum samples of some blood donors and patients with liver diseases and HBV infection from 1990-1992. One (0.33%) of 300 blood donors was positive (two times higher than normal ALT level in serum). 62 patients with hepatitis A and 58 patients with non-hepatitis B were anti-HD negative. 100 (11.64%) of 859 patients with HBV infection were positive: ASC 13/410 (3.17%), AH 7/63 (10.29%), CPH 1/9 (11.11%), CAH 22/121 (18.18%), SH 15/75 (20.00%), LC 23/78 (29.49%), PHC 19/89 (19.39%). The results are consistent with our previous reports.
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PMID:[Synthetic oligopeptide of hepatitis D virus antigen and its clinical application]. 822 Dec 44


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