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)

It is well established that the administration to rodents of a variety of structurally diverse chemicals possessing hypotriglyceridemic properties results in hepatomegaly, the induction of hepatic peroxisome (microbody) proliferation, and the development of hepatocellular carcinomas. Studies have led to the hypothesis that persistent proliferation of peroxisomes serves as an endogenous initiator of neoplastic transformation in liver by increasing the intracellular production of H2O2 by the peroxisomal oxidase(s). The objective of the present study was to determine whether hepatic peroxisome proliferation can be induced in cats, chickens, pigeons, and two species of monkeys (rhesus and cynomolgus). The hypolipidemic drug ciprofibrate (2-[4-(2,2-dichloro-cylopropyl)phenoxyl]2-methylpropionic acid) induced peroxisome proliferation in the livers of cats (dose, greater than 40 mg/kg body weight for 4 weeks); chickens (dose greater than 25 mg/kg body weight for 4 weeks); pigeons (300 mg/kg body weight for 3 weeks), rhesus monkeys (50 to 200 mg/kg body weight for 7 weeks) and cynomolgus monkeys (400 mg/kg body weight for 4 weeks). In all five species examined in this study, a marked but variable increase in the activities of peroxisomal catalase, carnitine acetyltransferase, heat-labile enoyl-CoA hydratase, and the fatty acid beta-oxidation system was observed. These results suggest that peroxisome proliferation can be induced in the livers of several species and that it is a dose-dependent but not a species-specific phenomenon.
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PMID:Induction of hepatic peroxisome proliferation in nonrodent species, including primates. 669 13

Until recently, the peroxisome was considered a "reactor chamber" for H2O2 producing oxidases, and it is now recognised as a versatile organelle performing complex catabolic and biosynthetic roles in the cell. Zellweger syndrome (ZS), the paradigm of human peroxisomal disorders, is characterised by neonatal hypotonia, severe neuro-developmental delay, hepatomegaly, renal cysts, senorineural deafness, retinal dysfunction, and facial dysmorphism. It is now clear that ZS is at the severe end of a phenotypic spectrum of Zellweger-like syndromes which may present for diagnosis later in childhood and even in adult life. It is important that clinical geneticists are aware of these milder clinical variants as the availability of sensitive and specific biochemical assays of peroxisomal function (for example, serum VLCFA ratios, platelet DHAP-AT activity) makes their diagnosis relatively straightforward.
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PMID:Zellweger syndrome and associated phenotypes. 893 42

Peroxisome proliferators are nongenotoxic rodent carcinogens that act as tumor promoters by increasing cell proliferation; however, their precise mechanism of action is not well understood. Oxidative DNA damage caused by leakage of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) from peroxisomes was hypothesized initially as the mechanism by which these compounds cause liver tumors. It seems unlikely that oxidants of peroxisomal origin explain the mechanism of action of peroxisome proliferators because treatment with these compounds in vivo does not lead to increased H2O2 production. On the other hand, Kupffer cell-derived oxidants, such as superoxide, may play a role in initiating tumor nerosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) production that leads to hepatocyte proliferation. Peroxisome proliferators have been shown to activate Kupffer cells both in vitro and in vivo, and the use of Kupffer cell inhibitors such as methyl palmitate and dietary glycine have demonstrated that Kupffer cells are responsible for hepatocyte proliferation by mechanisms involve TNF-alpha. Moreover, peroxisome proliferators activate the transcription factor NF-kappaB, one of the major regulators of TNF-alpha expression, in Kupffer cells. Importantly, activation of NF-kappaB by peroxisome proliferators was shown to be oxidant-dependent, leading to the hypothesis that oxidants of Kupffer cell origin are involved in the mechanism of action. Many of the effects of peroxisome proliferators, including peroxisome induction and hepatomegaly, involve the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPARalpha). Recently, it was shown that peroxisome proliferator-induced cell proliferation and tumors require the PPARalpha. However, PPARalpha is not involved in TNF-alpha production by Kupffer cells because it is not expressed in this cell type. How it is involved in liver tumor remains unclear and one possible explanation is that both Kupffer cell TNF-alpha and parenchymal cell PPARalpha are required. Collectively, recent data are consistent with the hypothesis that oxidants play a role in signaling hepatocellular proliferation due to peroxisome proliferators via activation of NF-kappaB and incrase in mitogenic cytokines such as TNF-alpha.
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PMID:Novel role of oxidants in the molecular mechanism of action of peroxisome proliferators. 1122 71