Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0019209 (hepatomegaly)
 5,798 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Amiodarone, a commonly used antiarrhythmic agent, has numerous adverse effects. The purpose of this case report is to highlight its hepatotoxicity, an unusual complication of long term amiodarone therapy. Our patient is a 76-year-old man with underlying ischaemic heart disease and recurrent ventricular tachycardia. Eleven months after commencing amiodarone, he developed asymptomatic raised aminotransferases which resolved following drug withdrawal. Amiodarone was then reintroduced and four years later, the patient developed hepatomegaly, worsening liver biochemistry and histopathological changes consistent with early cirrhosis. His symptoms improved following discontinuation of amiodarone. However, hepatomegaly and a low serum albumin still persist four years later.
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PMID:Hepatotoxicity of amiodarone. 129 29

The incidence of heart failure in octogenarians is high and its diagnosis not always easy. In many cases it is made by excess or by omission. Obtaining a history is often difficult. Signs may be masked, false or indicative of another disease process. Dyspnea, edema of the lower limbs and crepitations are relatively non-specific. Jugular distension, tender hepatomegaly and a diastolic gallop are much more valuable. Diagnosis of the underlying etiology also raises problems. While hypertension is commonplace and easy to identify, ischemic heart disease is common and often missed. Tight aortic stenosis must be identified since its treatment is surgical. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is often an echocardiographic discovery. Post-embolic chronic cor pulmonale, or secondary to chronic obstructive lung disease, must always be considered in the presence of right heart failure without hypertension or chest pain. Appropriate treatment is dependent upon accurate diagnosis.
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PMID:[Difficulties in the diagnosis of cardiac insufficiency in octogenarians]. 782 52

Hyperlipoproteinemia is the most important public health risk factor for ischemic heart disease and is still responsible for a high proportion of the annual deaths in Austria. Clofibrate and other structurally related compounds are hypolipidemic drugs used in the treatment of hyperlipoproteinemia. Peroxisome proliferators enhance peroxisomal enzyme activities and increase mRNA levels of the corresponding genes. Some of these effects may be mediated by peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPARs). Subchronic treatment of rodents with hypolipidemic drugs produces profound hepatomegaly and increases the incidence of hepatocellular carcinomas, which has not been found in primates. Up to now hypolipidemic drugs have been administered with caution in view of these results. In order to evaluate the interspecies differences in the regulation of the peroxisomal enzyme system we are establishing a cell model system.
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PMID:[Pleiotrophic peroxisome induction by hypolipidemic agents in primates and rodents]. 883 31

Hyperlipidemia is recognized as one of the major risk factors for the development of coronary artery disease and progression of atherosclerotic lesions. Dietary therapy together with hypolipidemic drugs are central to the management of hyperlipidemia, which aims to prevent atherosclerotic plaque progression, induce regression, and so decrease the risk of acute coronary events in patients with pre-existing coronary or peripheral vascular disease. In patients at high risk of coronary artery disease but without evidence of atherosclerosis, treatment is designed to prevent the premature development of coronary artery disease, whereas in those with hypertriglyceridemia, treatment aims to prevent the development of hepatomegaly, splenomegaly, and pancreatitis. The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors, or statins, are the most potent lipid-lowering agents currently available, and their use in the treatment of hyperlipidemia provides the focus for this review. Particular emphasis is given to cerivastatin, a new HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor that combines potent cholesterol-lowering properties with significant triglyceride-reducing effects. Recently completed primary and secondary intervention trials have shown that the significant reductions in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol achieved with statins result in significant reductions in morbidity and mortality associated with coronary artery disease as well as reductions in the incidence of stroke and total mortality. Such benefits occur early in the course of statin therapy and have led to suggestions that these drugs may possess antiatherogenic effects over and above their capacity to lower atherogenic lipids and lipoproteins. Experimental studies have also shown statin-induced improvements in endothelial function, decreased platelet thrombus formation, improvements in fibrinolytic activity, and reductions in the frequency of transient myocardial ischemia.
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PMID:Current and future treatment of hyperlipidemia: the role of statins. 973 40

The anti-arrhythmic agent amiodarone (AD) is associated with numerous adverse effects, but serious liver disease is rare. The improved safety of administration of daily low doses of AD has already been established and this regimen is used for long-term medication. Nevertheless, asymptomatic continuous liver injury by AD may increase the risk of step-wise progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. We present an autopsy case of AD-induced liver cirrhosis in a patient who had been treated with a low dose of AD (200 mg/d) daily for 84 mo. The patient was a 85-year-old male with a history of ischemic heart disease. Seven years after initiation of treatment with AD, he was admitted with cardiac congestion. The total dose of AD was 528 g. Mild elevation of serum aminotransferase and hepatomegaly were present. Liver biopsy specimens revealed cirrhosis, and under electron microscopy numerous lysosomes with electron-dense, whorled, lamellar inclusions characteristic of a secondary phospholipidosis were observed. Initially, withdrawal of AD led to a slight improvement of serum aminotransferase levels, but unfortunately his general condition deteriorated and he died from complications of pneumonia and renal failure. Long-term administration of daily low doses of AD carries the risk of progression to irreversible liver injury. Therefore, periodic examination of liver function and/or liver biopsy is required for the management of patients receiving long-term treatment with AD.
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PMID:Liver cirrhosis induced by long-term administration of a daily low dose of amiodarone: a case report. 1614 55

Arsenicosis is a multisystem disorder, with virtually no system spared from its vicious claw; though its predominant manifestations are linked to cutaneous involvement. Cutaneous effects take the form of pigmentary changes, hyperkeratosis, and skin cancers (Bowen's disease, squamous cell carcinoma, and basal cell epithelioma). Peripheral vascular disease (blackfoot disease), hypertension, ischemic heart disease, noncirrhotic portal hypertension, hepatomegaly, peripheral neuropathy, respiratory and renal involvement, bad obstetrical outcome, hematological disturbances, and diabetes mellitus are among the other clinical features linked to arsenic toxicity. The effects are mediated principally by the trivalent form of arsenic (arsenite), which by its ability to bind with sulfhydryl groups present in various essential compounds leads to inactivation and derangement of body function. Though the toxicities are mostly linked to the trivalent state, arsenic is consumed mainly in its pentavalent form (arsenate), and reduction of arsenate to arsenite is mediated through glutathione. Body attempts to detoxify the agent via repeated oxidative methylation and reduction reaction, leading to the generation of methylated metabolites, which are excreted in the urine. Understandably the detoxification/bio-inactivation process is not a complete defense against the vicious metalloid, and it can cause chromosomal aberration, impairment of DNA repair process, alteration in the activity of tumor suppressor gene, etc., leading to genotoxicity and carcinogenicity. Arsenic causes apoptosis via free radical generation, and the cutaneous toxicity is linked to its effect on various cytokines (e.g., IL-8, TGF-beta, TNF-alpha, GM-CSF), growth factors, and transcription factors. Increased expression of cytokeratins, keratin-16 (marker for hyperproliferation) and keratin-8 and -18 (marker for less differentiated epithelial cells), can be related to the histopathological findings of hyperkeratosis and dysplastic cells in the arsenicosis skin lesion.
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PMID:Pathogenesis, clinical features and pathology of chronic arsenicosis. 1917 78

Chronic arsenic exposure causes cutaneous effects like hyperkeratosis, peripheral vascular disease, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, non-cirrhotic portal hypertension, hepatomegaly, peripheral neuropathy, respiratory involvement, bad obstetrical outcome, hematological disturbances, and diabetes mellitus. Here we present a case of a 24-year-old lady, with chronic exposure to arsenic, presenting to us with progressive dyspnea. We found pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) as a cause of her dyspnea. PAH can occur in arsenicosis, secondary to arsenic-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung fibrosis, and portal hypertension, which we excluded by appropriate investigations in our case. We also excluded a familial or heritable form of PAH. Thus, with the exclusion of all these secondary causes of PAH, as well as a hereditary cause, we came to a conclusion that this PAH might be due to chronic arsenic exposure. To the best of our knowledge, no case of PAH in chronic arsenicosis has been reported to date.
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PMID:Unexplained dyspnea in a patient of chronic arsenicosis: A diagnostic challenge and learning curve for physicians. 2581 5