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)

Blood contamination has been proposed as TTV transmission. We studied the genoprevalence of TTV in Japanese men with history of intravenous drug abuse and/or tattoo. TTV was identified in serum by a polymerase chain reaction. TTV was detected in 89.7 percent of the men with history of intravenous drug abuse and/or tattoo, 74.4 percent of chronic hepatitis C patients, 78.0 percent of the chronic hepatitis B, and 65.8 percent of chronic hepatitis nonB nonC patients. Serum ALT levels of those infected with TTV alone were 27.2 +/- 17.5 IU/L. In the patients with chronic hepatitis C, serum ALT levels of those coinfected with TTV were similar to serum ALT levels of those without TTV infection. These results suggest that TTV causes no or mild hepatitis.
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PMID:[Genoepidemiology and pathogenicity of TT virus in Japanese men with history of intravenous drug abuse and tattoo]. 1039 Oct 13

The serological status of Solomon Island blood donors in 1995 and in particular the seroprevalence of antibodies to Hepatitis B and C and prevalence of risk factors for these chronic infections was studied. A questionnaire of risk factors for Hepatitis B and C was undertaken. All blood donors had been previously screened for HIV antibody without any positive cases recorded. 598 donors had serum collected of which 36 samples (6.0%) were third generation HCV EIA antibody positive and 3 samples were RIBA positive but none were PCR positive. 25.1% of samples were positive for HBsAg and anti-HBc antibody was found in 84.4%. Elevated ALT levels (>35 U/l) were found in 6.5% of samples but there was no statistically significant association with HCV or HBsAg status. 15.4% were TPHA positive and 5.4% had RPR titers more than or equal to 1. Anti-HTLV-1 antibody was positive in 12.3% randomly selected samples. All 10 positive samples were then found to be antibody indeterminate with Western blot assay. Of the 585 samples with completed questionnaires, analysis of the relationship between anti-HCV status with tattoo status and ear piercing also failed to reach statistical significance. Consistent with other studies from tropical malaria-prone countries, a positive anti-HCV antibody test even by the third generation EIA is probably a false positive test in most cases. In addition, high prevalence rates of HBV, yaws or syphilis infection were demonstrated.
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PMID:The serological status of Solomon Island blood donors. 1077 66

The hepatitis C virus was first identified in 1989. It causes chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Global anti-HCV prevalence is 1-3%. Contaminated blood product, dirty needles and instruments, and injection drug use are the main parenteral routes of transmission. Cultural practices, such as acupuncture, tattoo, body piercing and scarring, also play a role. Universal precaution is the mainstay for prevention before vaccine is developed. Therapy for chronic hepatitis C (CHC) with interferon (IFN) is not satisfactory. Non-response and early relapse reduce sustained response (SR). In 1997, National Institute of Health consensus recommended IFN therapy only for selected patients with compensated CHC, raised ALT and moderate to severe histologic disease activity; 15-20% SR is expected. Major advances in CHC therapy is combination therapy. Ribavirin in combination with IFN significantly increases SR to 30-40%. Even patients with high viral load, genotype 1, significant fibrosis or cirrhosis respond better. EASL and APASL Consensus in 1999 recommended IFN-ribavirin combination as the first line therapy. Recent data on pegylated IFN showed very encouraging results. Combined with ribavirin, 60% SR was achieved. It benefits patients with severe bridging necrosis and also cirrhosis. However, 23-27% of patients receiving combination therapy with either IFN type, experienced adverse events and required therapy discontinuation. Many important issues remained unsolved. Therapy for children, the elderly, patients with comorbidity and extra-hepatic syndromes need to be addressed. Therapy is too expensive and not affordable to the majority of patients in developing countries.
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PMID:Management of viral hepatitis C. 1200 Jun

Zafirlukast, a competitive cysteinyl leukotriene receptor antagonist, is a new class of asthma medications. It has shown an adverse event profile similar to that of placebo. Herein, we present a 69-year-old female patient who suffered from general malaise, poor appetite, nausea and jaundice after 3 months of zafirlukast therapy for asthma. She had no past history of liver disease, nor history of alcoholism, herb medication, blood transfusion, acupuncture, tattoo or recent traveling history. Liver biochemistries revealed elevated serum alanine aminotransferase and aspartase aminotransferase levels up to 481 U/L and 212 U/L, respectively. Moreover, peak serum total bilirubin level was elevated to 34.8 mg/dL during admission. Serum viral hepatitis marker, antinuclear antibody, anti-mitochondrial antibody and anti-smooth muscle antibody were all negative. Her general condition and liver biochemistries improved gradually after zafirlukast was discontinued. Roussel Uclaf causality assessment for adverse drug reaction confirmed the diagnosis of drug-induced liver injury. This case reminds us that zafirlukast is a potentially hepato-toxic drug. If clinical manifestations of hepatitis develop, patients should be managed cautiously and closely monitored for liver biochemistries. If drug-induced hepatitis is suspected, medication should be discontinued immediately to prevent further liver injury.
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PMID:Zafirlukast-induced acute hepatitis. 1258 21