Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0008370 (cholestasis)
 9,378 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The effect of copper chelation was studied in a group of children with intrahepatic cholestasis of childhood (IHCC) and increased liver copper levels. Initial therapy was D-penicillamine (10 mg/kg/day), being replaced by triethylenetetramine dihydrochloride (20 mg/kg/day) when side-effects of D-penicillamine occurred. Eight children completed two years of copper chelation. Pruritus remained the main symptom and did not improve. Two patients developed D-penicillamine side-effects - one patient after nine months (marked anorexia, lassitude) and one other patient after 19 months (thrombocytopenia). Two patients died during the study, in one of these normal hepatic copper concentration was achieved. Hepatic copper concentrations decreased in seven of eight patients from 8.6 (2.7 +/- 16.2) mumol/g to 3.4 (0.6-16.5) mumol/g (median and range (0.05 less than 0.01) and serum aspartate transaminase increased in seven of eight patients (p less than 0.05). Histological assessment of serial liver sections revealed increased fibrosis and cholestasis despite reductions in hepatic copper levels during the study. This study showed that D-penicillamine therapy was associated with significant side-effects, while marked clinical, biochemical, or histological improvement did not follow effective copper chelation therapy in intrahepatic cholestasis of childhood.
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PMID:Copper chelation therapy in intrahepatic cholestasis of childhood. 684 32

A 63-year-old woman with a 1-year history of abdominal pain and intrahepatic cholestasis developed anorexia, weight loss, lassitude and diarrhoea. Studies led to a diagnosis of primary intestinal T-cell lymphoma involving especially the proximal small intestine and infiltrating the mesenteric lymph nodes, bone marrow and skin. An associated severe hypoalbuminaemia (1.3 g dL-1) was most probably the result of protein-losing enteropathy. Liver biopsy demonstrated concentric fibrosis of the bile ducts ('onion skin' lesions, with an inflammatory cell infiltrate and lymphoid aggregates) and was considered almost pathognomonic of primary sclerosing cholangitis. Sudden death due to pulmonary embolism occurred and a limited autopsy confirmed the diagnosis. Other associated diseases such as coeliac disease or inflammatory bowel disease were not found. This first report of the simultaneous occurrence of two rare diseases - primary sclerosing cholangitis and intestinal T-cell lymphoma - may indicate an intriguing association, possibly mediated by the effect of cytokines released by the infiltrating T-cells into the portal circulation.
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PMID:Primary intestinal T-cell lymphoma and sclerosing cholangitis: a cytokine-mediated association? 989 8