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Query: UMLS:C0019209 (hepatomegaly)
 5,798 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Authors in 1968 performing the periodoc observation of persons, working in toluene-containing athmosphera noticed the presence of hepatomegaly. Laboratory tests performed in 1968--1976 have revealed increase of the level of GOT. At 22 workers out of 170 liver biopsy was performed. By electron microscopy pathologic alterations in the mitochondria and in the rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum could be observed, -since these organella contain the two-third of the GOT of hepatocytes. It is assumed that mitochondria as sources of energy take part in the process of the oxydation of toulene, ribosomes of the rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum in the conjugation of benzoic-acid with glycine. Authors assume that there is a correlation between the damage of the organella and the detoxication of the toluene by hepatocytes.
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PMID:[Current data on toluene toxicity based on liver biopsy studies]. 71 45

An unresolved controversy is whether exposure to organic solvents in the workplace causes hepatotoxicity. From a medical surveillance study of 289 printing factory employees who were exposed primarily to toluene, we identified eight workers who had persistently abnormal serum transaminase and/or alkaline phosphatase values. The eight men were generally healthy and gave no history of taking medications or of drinking ethanol to excess. None was obese or diabetic. Six patients had hepatomegaly based on physical examination. All eight had mild elevations (less than 2 to 3 times the upper value of normal) of serum transaminases [alanine (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST)]. However, there was a marked increase in the ratio of ALT/AST (mean = 1.61). In each case, liver biopsy revealed mild, pericentral fatty change. Our results, consistent with those previously published by some others, suggest that pericentral fatty liver with mild "reactive hepatitis" is the most likely diagnosis in workers exposed to solvents for whom common causes of mild liver test abnormalities have been excluded. An increased ALT/AST ratio may represent a convenient, previously unrecognized indicator of this condition.
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PMID:Liver structure and function in print workers exposed to toluene. 261 34