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 prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies in 2,557 asymptomatic volunteer Brazilian blood donors is reported. Using the line immunoassay (Inno-LIA) as a confirmatory test on ELISA anti-HCV-positive reacting sera, a prevalence rate of 2.7% for anti-HCV positivity was found. By comparison, prevalences of 1.6% for hepatitis B surface antigen, 0.9% for Treponema pallidum, 0.4% for human immunodeficiency virus and 0.04% for Trypanosoma cruzi were observed. Only 57% of the HCV-positive donors had elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels. Using previous criteria, based on surrogate markers (ALT > or = 50 IU/l and for anti-hepatitis B core antibody), for HCV infection at that time, only 25% of the HCV-positive donations would have been eliminated. In view of the high prevalence of anti-HCV reactivity among the Brazilian blood donor population and the poor reliability of surrogate markers, it is recommended that routine screening for anti-HCV in Brazilian blood donors is introduced.
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PMID:Prevalence of anti-hepatitis C virus in the blood donor population of Rio de Janeiro. 769 72

A 22-year-old male Taiwanese was admitted to the hospital for acute hepatitis B associated with fulminant hepatic failure. After receiving supportive treatment, the patient's clinical condition improved and the results of liver function tests (including prothrombin time) gradually improved. However, in spite of seroconversion from hepatitis B surface antigen to antibody, hepatitis relapsed and serum alanine aminotransferase levels were persistently abnormal during the 3-year follow-up period. Liver biopsy performed 2 years after the onset of illness revealed chronic hepatitis. A retrospective review of the patient's serological test results revealed hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA and the development of antibodies to HCV during the acute phase of illness as well as the persistence of HCV RNA during follow-up. Thus, we serologically and virologically proved that our patient had simultaneous acute infections with hepatitis B and C viruses and that these infections led to fulminant hepatic failure, relapse of hepatitis, and chronic hepatitis C.
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PMID:Simultaneous acute hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus infection leading to fulminant hepatitis and subsequent chronic hepatitis C. 775

The value of serum transaminases (ST) in evaluating hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) infection was studied in 217 hemodialysis (HD) patients and 804 normal controls. Mean serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) was 22.3 (22.0-22.7) and 22.6 (21.6-23.6) IU/l or 0.371 (0.366-0.378) and 0.376 (0.36-0.393) mu kat/l in controls and HD patients, respectively (nonsignificant), while mean serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) was 20.3 (19.9-20.7) and 16.3 (15.3-17.3) IU/l or 0.338 (0.331-0.345) and 0.271 (0.255-0.288) mu kat/l in these two groups (p < 0.001). However, both AST and ALT became significantly depressed in HD patients after adjusting for age, gender, HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) and anti-HCV. The usual practice of regarding AST and ALT as being 'abnormal' in evaluating viral hepatitis when they exceeded the upper reference range (40 and 46 IU/l or 0.666 and 0.766 mu kat/l in our laboratory) was then critically assessed by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. ROC analysis showed that ST was useless in detecting HBsAg, while the best cutoff point for detecting the presence of anti-HCV was 18 IU/l (0.3 mu kat/l) for AST and 16 IU/l (0.266 mu kat/l) for ALT in HD patients, respectively. These are considerably lower than the conventional criteria for an 'abnormal' ST. We conclude that ST are decreased in HD patients and that the cutoff value of ST for detecting HCV should be set at lower levels to enhance their diagnostic yield.
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PMID:Impact of decreased serum transaminase levels on the evaluation of viral hepatitis in hemodialysis patients. 777 13

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) continues to be a significant cause for post-transfusion hepatitis in India, in spite of the introduction of compulsory hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) screening. To understand the true HBV-infective pool in the blood donor population, HBV DNA was detected by a 32P-labelled dot blot hybridisation assay in 605 donor units that were negative for HBsAg by a third-generation Elisa. Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) was estimated in all these samples and correlated with DNA positivity. The frequency of HBV DNA positivity in HBsAg-negative units was very high (9.91%) and correlated well with the elevation in ALT (p < 0.00005). However, the frequency of elevated ALT was high (11.9%), using the locally determined upper limit of normal, and half of the DNA-positive samples had a normal ALT. Thus, ALT is a poor surrogate marker for HBV infectivity and efforts should be made to apply DNA detection systems in blood banks.
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PMID:High prevalence of HBV infectivity in blood donors detected by the dot blot hybridisation assay. 780 9

To document the number of individuals who might qualify for interferon therapy and what impact the costs of treatment will have on the health care system, the serologic and biochemical profiles of 140 hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive individuals of Asian descent (72 Vietnamese, 69 Chinese) were evaluated with respect to their hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) status and biochemical parameters (ALT, bilirubin, and prothrombin time). The mean +/- SD age of the study population was 33.5 +/- 13.4 y. Eighty-six (61%) were male. The HBeAg was positive in 64 (46%) of cases (41% of Vietnamese and 51% of Chinese) with no apparent sexual predilection. The ALT values exceeded 1.5 x normal in 23/64 (36%) cases. Mean serum bilirubin and prothrombin times were within normal limits. The results of this study demonstrate that approximately 50% of HBsAg positive immigrants from Southeast Asia are also HBeAg positive, and 36% of these individuals have elevated ALT values (> 1.5 x normal). Thus, according to estimated carrier rates and present guidelines for treatment, approximately 1-2% of the total Southeast Asian immigrant population are candidates for interferon therapy. With an immigrant population of approximately 900,000 and a cost of $6,500/patient, the total cost to the Canadian health care system will approach $100 million, or 1.3% of the present health care budget. These results underscore the need for a reappraisal of present treatment guidelines and implementation of universal vaccination in this country.
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PMID:A cross-sectional seroepidemiologic survey of chronic hepatitis B virus infections in Southeast Asian immigrants residing in a Canadian urban centre. 786 49

One hundred twenty-two hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carrier infants were followed-up for 8-10 years. One hundred eleven had antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc; 83 had been vaccinated) and the remaining 11 were without anti-HBc (7 had been vaccinated). During the follow-up period, 29 (26.1%) carrier infants with anti-HBc had one or more episodes of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) elevation and up to 32.8% (21/64) of the carriers in this group lost their hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) before the age of 10. In addition, 2 (1.8%) carriers lost their HBsAg at the age of 3 and 8, respectively. No significant symptom or sign was noted during HBeAg seroconversion. In contrast, all the carrier infants without anti-HBc were still positive for both HBeAg and hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA and none displayed abnormal ALT levels or any symptom related to liver disease. One became anti-HBc positive at the age of 9, and 5 other carriers had inconsistent borderline or weakly positive titers of anti-HBc. The episodes of ALT elevation and the prevalence of HBeAg seroconversion were not significantly different between immunized carrier infants. In conclusion, HBeAg seroconversion may occur in about one third of the anti-HBc-positive carrier infants during the first decade. On the other hand, the anti-HBc-negative HBsAg carrier infants' immune incompetence to the HBV antigens could persist for more than 10 years. Hepatitis B immunization did not have significant effect on the clinical course in carriers.
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PMID:Long-term follow-up of hepatitis B virus carrier infants. 789 65

The prevalence of the anti-hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) antibody and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) among 123 alcoholic patients with liver disease from our hospital and 44 alcoholic subjects from the local community was evaluated. By radio-immunoassay HBsAg was detected in 30.1% of alcoholic patients with liver disease, compared with 11.4% of alcoholic subjects from the local community (p < 0.05). The prevalence of HBsAg was 40.7% (11/27) in patients with cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 31.5% (17/54) in patients with cirrhosis only, and 29.4% (5/17) in patients with other liver diseases. By enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, anti-HCV antibody was detected in 30.9% of alcoholic patients with liver disease, compared with 2.3% of alcoholic subjects from the local community (p < 0.0005). The prevalence of anti-HCV antibody was 44.4% in alcoholic patients with cirrhosis and HCC, 29.6% in alcoholic patients with cirrhosis only, and 17.6% in alcoholic patients with other liver diseases. As the degree of liver damage advanced, the prevalence of either HBsAg or anti-HCV antibody, or both, being detected in these alcoholic patients increased significantly (p < 0.05). The serum ALT level was higher among alcoholic patients who had either HBsAg or anti-HCV antibody than those having neither (151 +/- 204 vs 62 +/- 47 IU/L; p < 0.005). All three alcoholic patients with chronic hepatitis had positive HBsAg or anti-HCV antibody. Histologic findings, except cells within sinusoids, were comparable between the alcoholic patients with or without superimposed hepatitis viruses.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus infection among chronic alcoholic patients with liver disease in Taiwan. 791 83

To determine when the precore mutation at the 83rd nucleotide occurs, leading to the formation of a stop codon in the hepatitis B virus genome in carriers, which would indicate the presence of antibody to hepatitis B e antigen (anti-HBe), we investigated this mutation by direct sequencing and subcloning in 22 young hepatitis B antigen (HBeAg) (+) carriers. These subjects were 7-17 years old and were found during a survey for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in three elementary schools, a junior high, and a senior high school. None of these carriers had clinical manifestations, although one-third of them had elevated serum alanine aminotransferase levels. All were HBeAg-positive by radioimmunoassay (RIA), and 6 of them had preserved titers of anti-HBe at the same time. Precore mutations were found in 4 subjects (18.2%), with predominance of the wild type. Although 3 of these 4 had preserved titers of HBeAb, the other had no HBeAb titers. In an other 3 subjects with preserved titers of HBeAb, the precore mutation was not detected, even after the subcloning of viral DNA. The remaining 15 subjects with HBeAg showed no precore mutation. Subjects with ALT levels exceeding 100 IU/l were all HBeAg-positive without the mutation. It was clear that the precore mutation itself occurred in the subjects at an early age during the course of infection. However, the chronological relationship between the emergence of the precore mutation and the onset of hepatitis requires further study.
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PMID:Precore region mutation in hepatitis B virus genome in early stage of infection: a study in hepatitis B e antigen-positive young carriers. 795 58

The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in Libya has been investigated by seeking evidence of HCV infection in 266 healthy Libyan subjects (147 females, 119 males; age range 1-78 years), 76 of whom were registered blood donors. None had any history of blood transfusions, surgery, homosexuality, drug misuse or other risk factor for viral hepatitis. Sera from all subjects were tested for anti-HCV antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay against synthetic structural and non-structural HCV peptides from the HCV core, envelope, NS1, NS3/NS4 and NS5 regions. Eighteen (6.8%), all of whom were seronegative for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), were found to be anti-HCV positive (including 5 blood donors). The patterns of reactivity against the individual peptides varied between subjects as follows: core (14 subjects), envelope (11), NS1 (9), NS3/NS4 (10), and NS5 (6). Fourteen of the 18 had elevated serum aminotransferase activities (AST/ALT) but so also did 9 other subjects who were seronegative for both HBsAg and anti-HCV. Twelve of the 18 anti-HCV positive subjects, including 3 of the 5 anti-HCV positive blood donors, had circulating HCV RNA detected by the polymerase chain reaction. HCV RNA was also detected in 3 of the 9 anti-HCV negative cases with elevated AST/ALT. The finding that 21 (7.9%) of the 266 subjects had evidence of HCV infection indicates that there is a very high frequency of 'community-acquired' HCV in the normal Libyan population, and this has major implications for blood transfusion in that country.
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PMID:High prevalence of hepatitis C virus in the normal Libyan population. 797 63

Chronic hepatitis C has been demonstrated to be associated with hepatic iron overload, and the hypothesis that the disease activity of hepatitis C is associated with iron cytotoxicity was tested in male volunteer blood donors. Sera with either antibody to hepatitis C virus or hepatitis B surface antigen were selected for determination of ferritin concentration and alanine aminotransferase activity. A correlation between serum ferritin concentration (Y; microgram/l) and alanine aminotransferase activity (X; IU/l) was found in donors with antibody to hepatitis C (log Y = 0.65 x log X + 0.98, r = 0.53, and P < 0.01). The correlation was lower in donors with hepatitis B surface antigen (r = 0.37; P < 0.01). Hepatitis C virus infection probably induces time-dependent iron accumulation associated with the progression of disease activity, while hepatitis B virus infection results in a variety of iron loads with different clinical features. The high disease activity related to hyperferritinemia suggests the presence of iron-induced liver damage in donors with hepatitis C.
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PMID:Correlation between serum levels of alanine aminotransferase and ferritin in male blood donors with antibody to hepatitis C virus. 800 May 7


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