Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0023890 (cirrhosis)
 42,195 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The normal physiological role of glucagon is in controlling hepatic glucose output. Glucagon subserves the role of homeostasis by maintaining plasma glucose and of a stress hormone by producing hyperglycaemia. While control of glucagon release by circulating metabolites and also other hormones is clearly important, it seems likely that the nervous system exerts an over-riding influence. The parasympathetic nervous system maintains homeostasis and the sympathetic acts in stress. Glucagon levels are found to be high in cirrhosis and also after acute hepatic failure. It is likely that these changes in glucagon concentration are secondary to metabolic abnormalities. While some glucagon is cleared by the liver, a similar clearance is seen by many other tissues and it is not likely that the elevation of glucagon seen in liver failure is due solely to a gross deficiency of glucagon clearance. No liver abnormality is seen in the glucagonoma syndrome, where glucagon concentration are chronically high, or in patients who have had a total pancreatectomy, where plasma glucagon is undetectably low. It thus seems unlikely that liver mass is importantly controlled by glucagon.
 ...
PMID:Signals for glucagon secretion. 24 99

In the plasma of healthy subjects, 4 fractions of immunoreactive glucagon are found. The first has a molecular weight of about 160000, the second of 9000, the third 3500 and the fourth about 2000. The third probably corresponds to the intact hormone glucagon. In cirrhosis of the liver and diabetes mellitus, a statistically significant rise in the third fraction has been found. In patients with tumors of the pancreatic A-cells, in addition to the third fraction the second in particular was also increased: it may be a precursor of the glucagon molecule. In chronic renal insufficiency, fractions 2 and 3 were as markedly increased as in glucagonoma, which suggests a role for the kidney in the decomposition of glucagon. The pathophysiologic significance of the four immunoreactive fractions of glucagon cannot yet be assessed with certainty.
 ...
PMID:[Circulating types of human glucagon (author's transl)]. 30 29

Necrolytic migratory erythema is the distinctive cutaneous eruption seen with glucagon-producing tumours of the pancreas. Recognition of this eruption is important because it may lead to the early diagnosis of a glucagonoma. Recently, we saw a patient who had necrolytic migratory erythema, hyperglucagonaemia, and cirrhosis of the liver with no evidence of pancreatic tumour while alive or at autopsy. Serum glucagon levels during the period of observation and during an oral glucose tolerance test suggested that the hyperglucagonaemia was not due to an occult glucagon-producing tumour but may have been the result of advanced hepatic cirrhosis.
 ...
PMID:Hyperglucagonaemia and necrolytic migratory erythema in cirrhosis--possible pseudoglucagonoma syndrome. 51 28

Necrolytic migratory erythema (NME) is an uncommon condition classically associated with high plasma levels of circulating glucagon and a glucagonoma. We report a patient with cirrhosis who showed clinical and histological features of NME. Investigation revealed normal glucagon levels without evidence of glucagonoma. Serum zinc levels were below the normal range and zinc supplementation resulted in rapid and complete resolution of the eruption.
 ...
PMID:Necrolytic migratory erythema and zinc deficiency. 947 Sep 39

Necrolytic migratory erythema is characterized by waves of irregular erythema in which a central bulla develops, and subsequently erodes and becomes crusted. It usually occurs in patients with an alpha-islet cell tumor of the pancreas. However, necrolytic migratory erythema has also been observed in patients without an associated glucagonoma. We describe a woman with iatrogenic necrolytic migratory erythema. She received intravenous glucagon for hypoglycemia associated with an insulin-like growth factor II-secreting hemangiopericytoma. After chemotherapy, she developed necrolytic migratory erythema. The characteristics of the previously reported patients with nonglucagonoma-associated necrolytic migratory erythema are reviewed. In patients with nonglucagonoma-associated necrolytic migratory erythema, the dermatosis-related conditions most commonly observed were celiac disease or malabsorption, cirrhosis, malignancy, and pancreatitis; less common conditions included hepatitis, inflammatory bowel disease, heroin abuse, and odontogenic abscess. Although the pathogenesis of necrolytic migratory erythema remains unknown, hyperglucagonemia appears to have had a causative role in the development of this dermatosis in our patient. Patients who develop necrolytic migratory erythema should be evaluated for the presence of a glucagonoma; if a glucagonoma is ruled out, evaluation for other conditions known to occur with necrolytic migratory erythema, such as liver disease, malabsorptive disorders, and nonislet-cell tumors is warranted.
 ...
PMID:Iatrogenic necrolytic migratory erythema: a case report and review of nonglucagonoma-associated necrolytic migratory erythema. 959 6

Necrolytic migratory erythema is a cutaneous paraneoplastic manifestation, which is usually associated with a glucagon-secreting pancreatic tumor. However, it also may occur in other circumstances in which serum glucagon is elevated, as in hepatic cirrhosis. Rarely, necrolytic migratory erythema is reported in association with a jejunal and rectal adenocarcinoma or villous atrophy of the small intestine without any evidence for increased serum glucagon levels. In this context we report the case of an 85-year-old male with myelodysplastic syndrome who developed typical necrolytic migratory erythema without glucagonoma syndrome or evidence for other pancreatic or liver disease. We suggest that, in addition to the diseases listed, myelodysplastic syndrome might be able to cause necrolytic migratory erythema.
 ...
PMID:Necrolytic migratory erythema with myelodysplastic syndrome without glucagonoma. 1575 25