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)

Clinically, acute hepatitis C is an asymptomatic disease in up to 90% of cases. Transaminases fluctuate characteristically. Anti-HCV (RIBA-II) and HCV-RNA (PCR) are diagnostic early in the course of the disease. The risk of chronification is high, exceeding 50% of cases, irrespective of disease transmission (parenterally or sporadic). Alpha-interferon is applicated in pilot-studies to reduce the risk of chronification, with varying results. Chronic hepatitis C is an insidious disease. Again, most cases are asymptomatic. Bilirubin is normal. GPT-activity tends to fluctuate during the course. Anti-HCV and HCV-RNA can be detected in serum. About 20% of cases progress to cirrhosis (and HCC) after a long-lasting disease (20 to 30 years after infection). Alpha-Interferon therapy is successful in about 25% of patients.
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PMID:[Hepatitis C: clinical aspects, course and therapy]. 793 55

Plachitin formed of both poly-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (chitin) and cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (CDDP), was used as an arterial chemoembolization therapy against unresectable liver cancer. One gram of Plachitin contained 300 mg of CDDP. The Plachitin particle was 50-100 microns in diameter. Plachitin particles (50-100 mg) were injected via hepatic artery once or twice every week, and the total amount of 300 mg was considered one course of this therapy. The size and number of tumors were measured by computer tomography (CT). Pharmacokinetics of this drug was also assessed by serum and urine platinum (Pt) concentration. Three patients underwent the chemoembolization therapy using plachitin particles. Case 1 had multiple hepatocellular carcinomas. The tumor regression rate was 39% after two courses of this therapy. Serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level decreased from 1,182 ng/ml to 300 ng/ml. Case 2 suffered from bile duct cystadenocarcinoma. After three courses of the therapy, the tumor regression rate was 84.4%. Serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) decreased from 731 U/ml to 75 U/ml. Case 3 had synchronous multiple liver metastases from sigmoid colon cancer. The tumor regression rate was 77% after one course of the therapy. Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and CA19-9 decreased from 406 ng/ml to 65 ng/ml and from 4,800 U/ml to 790 ng/ml, respectively. The response rate of the 3 cases was 66.7%. The peak levels of the serum Pt concentration of three patients were 0-0.4 microgram/g throughout the therapy, but peak urine Pt concentrations were observed during one course of the therapy of three patients ranging from 0.5 microgram/g to 3.2 micrograms/g, and decreased gradually for three weeks after the first course. Adverse effects of Plachitin particles for arterial chemoembolization were epigastralgia, nausea, fever, and elevation of serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels. These adverse effects were observed in all patients, but were transient. Catheter obstruction occurred in one patient (case 2). Cholecystitis, pancreatic pseudocyst, and duodenal ulcer were noticed in case 3. No renal hypofunction was observed. Plachitin might be a useful agent for arterial chemoembolization therapy for primary and secondary liver cancer.
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PMID:[Intraarterial chemoembolization therapy for unresectable liver cancer using plachitin particles]. 794 46

A number of biochemical events accompany the development of chronic liver disease and its evolution into hepatic cancer. Low plasma zinc and high plasma copper levels have been observed in individuals with advanced hepatocellular liver disease. Moreover, many investigators have demonstrated an increase in serum estradiol levels in individuals with chronic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In the present study, the relationship between these biochemical events and HCC was investigated in an animal model. Specifically, carbon tetrachloride (CCL4) was administered intragastrically to 20 female Sprague Dawley rats for 30 weeks. All 20 animals developed cirrhosis. Six (30%) developed HCC. Significantly higher serum estradiol, zinc and copper levels were observed in the rats developing HCC as compared with those with cirrhosis alone (P < or = 0.05, 0.01 and 0.001, respectively). A trend toward increased serum levels of progesterone, ALT and total bilirubin (0.1 > or = P < or = 0.05) was found in the animals developing HCC. No differences in serum testosterone and alkaline phosphatase levels were noted between animals with and without HCC. These studies demonstrate that in animals with experimental CCL4-induced cirrhosis and HCC serum levels of estradiol, zinc and copper are increased, as is the case in man.
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PMID:CCL4-induced liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in rats: relationship to plasma zinc, copper and estradiol levels. 795 73

In the present multi-center cooperative phase II study, in which 16 institutions participated, PJ-203 and mitomycin C were concomitantly infused into the hepatic artery of patients with metastatic liver cancer and the tumor response and safety of the combined therapy were examined. Of 81 patients treated with PJ-203, 52 patients were complete cases in which bidimensionally measurable lesions could be assessed for anticancer effect in accordance with the Direct Evaluation Criteria of Chemotherapy. The number of treatments given to the complete cases until the assessment of therapeutic effect ranged from 1 to 11 times, with the mean of 3.1 times. The overall response rate was 48.1% (25/52). The response rate for each primary lesion was 68.8% (11/16) for stomach cancer, 40.7% (11/27) for colorectal cancer and 33.3% (3/9) for other types of cancer including the gallbladder. The 25 patients with CR or PR, a 50% decrease in tumor size was confirmed after the treatment ranged from 1 to 5 times, with the treatment periods of 2 to 3 weeks. Adverse reactions were found in 56 (69.1%) out of 81 patients assessed for safety. Relatively frequent symptoms were pain in 49.4% (40/81), nausea and vomiting in 33.3% (27/81), fever in 30.9% (25/81) and anorexia in 6.2% (5/81). Principal abnormal laboratory values included a transient elevation of GOT (26.3%), GPT (22.5%), LDH (12.7%) and Al-p (8.8%). Blockade of blood flow could be observed by angiography when the amount of PJ-203 infused was in the range from 180 to 900 mg as degradable starch microspheres. The blood flow blockade could be observed most frequently at the amount of 600 mg (37.7%). The period attaining over 50% of tumor response in 25 complete cases was 42 days as a median. After the treatment was initiated in 81 patients, 50% survival duration and one-year survival rate averaged 277 days and 35.7%, respectively. The corresponding figures for each primary cancer were 419 days and 51.0% for patients with liver cancer metastasized from colorectal cancer, against 239 days and 11.8% for those with liver cancer metastasized from stomach cancer.
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PMID:[Multi-center cooperative phase II study of combined infusion of PJ-203 (degradable starch microspheres) into hepatic artery in metastatic liver cancer]. 821 76

Helicobacter hepaticus causes hepatitis in selected strains of mice and in A/JCr mice is linked to liver cancer. To analyze whether H. hepaticus persists in specified ecological niches, to determine whether biomarkers of infection exist, and to analyze the influence of H. hepaticus on hepatocyte proliferation, a longitudinal study of H. hepaticus-infected A/JCr mice was undertaken. A/JCr mice were serially euthanatized from 3 through 18 months and surveyed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; bacterial culture of liver, colon, and cecum; histology; electron microscopy; hepatocyte proliferation indices determined by using 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine; and measurement of the liver enzyme alanine aminotransferase. In infected animals throughout the 18-month study, H. hepaticus was consistently isolated from the lower bowel but only sporadically from the liver. By electron microscopy, H. hepaticus was noted infrequently and only in bile canaliculi. Infected mice, particularly males, showed chronic inflammation; oval cell, Kupffer cell, and Ito cell hyperplasia; hepatocytomegaly; and bile duct proliferation. The inflammatory and necrotizing lesion was progressive and involved the hepatic parenchyma, portal triads, and intralobular venules. Hepatic adenomas were noted only in male mice, whereas 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine proliferation indices were markedly increased in both sexes, but especially in males, compared to control A/J mice. Infected mice also developed sustained anti-H. hepaticus serum immunoglobulin G antibody responses and elevated alanine aminotransferase levels. H. hepaticus, which persists in the lower bowels and livers of A/JCr mice, is associated with a chronic proliferative hepatitis, and hepatomas in selected male mice indicate that this novel bacterium may cause an increased risk of hepatic cancer induction in susceptible strains of mice. This murine model should prove useful in dissecting the molecular events operable in the development of neoplasms induced by bacteria belonging to this expanding genera of pathogenic Helicobacter species.
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PMID:Chronic proliferative hepatitis in A/JCr mice associated with persistent Helicobacter hepaticus infection: a model of helicobacter-induced carcinogenesis. 861 59

To evaluate the prevalence and duration of viremia in relation to the features of liver disease, we investigated hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA by the polymerase chain reaction in the serum of 39 children with chronic hepatitis B, after hepatitis B e antigen to antibody seroconversion. During a mean observation period of 8.2 +/- 3.8 years after seroconversion, all patients were asymptomatic; 36 had persistently normal alanine aminotransferase levels, and three had occasional mild alterations. Liver histology, checked in 21 patients, showed persistent hepatitis in nine, fibrosis in 10, and cirrhosis in two cases. HBV DNA was always undetectable by dot blot hybridization. Five children eventually cleared hepatitis B surface antigen, including one with cirrhosis who developed liver cancer at 19 years. HBV DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction in 87% of children within 5 years of follow-up, in 58% of cases 6-10 years after seroconversion (p < 0.001), and in 50% of patients investigated later. Long-term viremia was found in two patients (40%) who cleared HBsAg, including the one who developed liver cancer. The chances of clearing viremia during follow-up were higher in children with acute hepatitis at the onset of illness (86%) than in those with asymptomatic onset (37%; p < 0.05). Our results show that low levels of HBV viremia, probably reflecting low levels of virus replication, persist for several years in children with chronic hepatitis B after hepatitis B e antigen to antibody seroconversion and remission of liver disease, even after the clearance of hepatitis B surface antigen. Persistent replication could support mild biochemical alterations and inflammatory liver lesions. It could allow late reactivation of liver disease and may play a role in the development of carcinoma.
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PMID:Long-term persistence of hepatitis B virus DNA in the serum of children with chronic hepatitis B after hepatitis B e antigen to antibody seroconversion. 870 80

Cisplatin-chitosan-microspheres (CDDP-DAC-MS) was chosen as a model preparation. Pharmacokinetics, targeting and embolization effects and alteration of liver function were studied after hepatic arterial embolization in dogs with CDDP-DAC-MS, and the platinum content in plasma and liver was determined by flameless atomic absorption spectrophotometry (FAAS). The result of clinical trial was also reported. After the CDDP-DAC-MS and CDDP solution were respectively infused into hepatic artery of dogs through a 5F catheter, the plasma concentration of platinum and AUC of CDDP-DAC-MS group was lower than that of CDDP solution group, but the platinum content in hepatic tissue was 2.92 times as much as that when CDDP solution was given after 24 h. Angiograms revealed a remarkable decrease in the number of arterioles in liver, and histopathologic specimens showed nodular necrosis and hepatic cell degeneration in embolized region. The levels of GPT, GOT and ALP rose transiently after embolization and recovered to normal within 3 weeks. The clinical therapy in six liver cancer patients was successful. It would appear that CDDP-DAC-MS may be a good chemoembolization agent.
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PMID:[Studies on hepatic arterial embolization with cisplatin-chitosan-microspheres in dogs]. 871 14

Although Singapore is in an endemic region for hepatitis B infection, the hepatitis B carriage rate of 5-6% is relatively low. The highest positivity rates for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) are found in the paediatric age group, with another peak in 40-49 year olds. Studies suggest that, although perinatal transmission is an important route of infection, most children acquire the virus through horizontal transmission between family members. Viral replication continues at a high rate in young carriers and tends to slow down with increasing age. Up to 50% of hepatitis B carriers in Singapore have chronic hepatitis, shown by raised serum ALT values and liver histology, and about 10% are infected with the precore mutant virus. About 20% of carriers have cirrhosis. Among patients with HCC, up to 75% are HBsAg positive, of whom 45% are still viraemic. Mass vaccination against hepatitis B was introduced into Singapore on a voluntary basis in 1983, with compulsory vaccination of babies born to HBeAg positive mothers since 1985. The number of cases of acute hepatitis B has fallen by 60% between 1989 and 1995 although the problems of the longterm complications of chronic hepatitis B still need to be tackled.
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PMID:Hepatitis B virus infection in Singapore. 878 46

The prevalence of HCV infection is high in renal transplantation (RT) patients: 29% in our cohort of 399 RT recipients. The consequences of that infection on the liver have to be carefully assessed. Clinical chronic hepatitis was detected from ALT concentrations (> x 1.5 N) in only 26 patients (22%) with constant (15%) or fluctuating (85%) ALT elevation. Only three of 117 cases developed cirrhosis (3%). No liver cancer was noted. Liver biopsy was performed (mean interval = 60.2 months) in 62 patients with HCV infection alone. We found 26 cases (42%) of chronic active hepatitis (CAH) with a mean Knodell score as low as 6.1 (range: 3-12), a mean activity grade of 4.9, and a fibrosis stage of 1.3. Twelve patients (19%) presented with normal liver pathology and met the criteria of healthy HCV carriers (positive viraemia, normal ALT and normal liver). The rest presented with portal lesions, either inflammation or fibrosis. In addition, patient and graft survival rates did not differ in HCV+ recipients. To conclude, HCV infection did not appear too deleterious for the liver in this cohort of patients. There is therefore no contraindication for HCV-positive recipients to undergo renal transplantation.
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PMID:HCV liver disease in renal transplantation: a clinical and histological study. 891 54

Recently, an RNA virus member of the flaviviridae, GBVirus C(GBV-C) was isolated from the serum of patient with cryptogenic hepatitis, but clinical significance for this virus has been not known now. To estimate the prevalence of GBV-C, we investigated the presence of GBV-C RNA by reverse transcription-nested polymerase chain reaction in the serum from various liver disease patients. The results were summarized as follows: [Table: see text] Among these, only 5 patients gave positive results, and these 5 cases had the history of blood transfusion before. Especially both non B non C HCC patient and non A non B non C fulminant hepatitis patient were negative for GBV-C on admission, while positive after blood transfusion as treatment. In the non B non C HCC patient, GBV-C RNA persisted over a period of several months after transfusion, while no remarkable elevation of ALT was observed. These results demonstrated that GBV-C/HGV may be transfusion-transmissible, and may not associated with severe chronic liver disease such as liver cirrhosis or HCC.
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PMID:[Detection of GBV-C RNA among non B non C hepatocellular carcinoma patients]. 908 62


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