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)

Hypogonadism, usually hypogonadotropic in origin, is the most common nondiabetic endocrinopathy in hereditary hemochromatosis (HH). Early studies, usually evaluating small numbers of patients with advanced HH, report prevalence rates of 10-100%. The clinical presentation of HH has changed in recent years as a result of increased awareness and screening. We assessed the prevalence of hypogonadism in a large group of patients with HH diagnosed in a single center over the past 20 yr, the period of follow-up spanning the time before and after widespread screening was introduced and the HFE gene was recognized. Abnormally low plasma testosterone levels, with low LH and FSH levels, were found in nine of 141 (6.4%) male patients tested. Eight of nine (89%) had associated hepatic cirrhosis; three of nine (33%) had diabetes. Inappropriately low LH and FSH levels were found in two of 38 females (5.2%) in whom the pituitary-gonadal axis could be assessed. This is the largest detailed study of hypogonadism reported in HH. The lower prevalence of hypogonadism compared with other reported series reflects the earlier diagnosis of HH in an unselected group of patients attending a single center. Patients with lesser degrees of hepatic siderosis at diagnosis are unlikely to develop hypogonadism.
 ...
PMID:Hypogonadism in hereditary hemochromatosis. 1565 76

Genetic hemochromatosis (GH) is an iron overload disorder mainly due to the C282Y mutation of the HFE gene. The possibility of bone involvement was only recently recognized. The aims of this study were to assess bone mineral density (BMD) and bone remodeling in men with GH, and to examine the influence of iron overload. Thirty-eight men (mean age 47.2+/-9.4 years) with well-defined HFE-related GH were studied. They had an important iron overload with liver iron concentration to age ratio >2.5, no previous venesection therapy and were C282Y homozygotes (n=37) or compound C282Y/H63D heterozygote (n=1). BMD measured by DXA was 0.925+/-0.15 g/cm2 at the lumbar spine (LS) and 0.778+/-0.13 g/cm2 at the femoral neck (FN). Osteopenia (T-score<-1 SD) was observed in 78.9% of patients and osteoporosis (T-score<-2.5 SD) in 34.2%. Vitamin D levels were normal, and no 1-84 parathyroid hormone dysfunction was found. Hypogonadism was found in only 13.2% of patients. Patients with hypogonadism had lower LS BMD than eugonadal patients (0.788+/-0.16 and 0.954+/-0.14 g/cm2). Bone remodeling and parathyroid hormone levels were lower in patients with cirrhosis, but BMD values were similar to those in patients without cirrhosis. FN BMD appeared to fall with rising hepatic iron concentrations (r=-0.399). We conclude that there is significant bone loss in HFE-related hemochromatosis that cannot solely be explained by hypogonadism or cirrhosis. Further investigations are needed to determine the role of iron overload itself.
 ...
PMID:Bone mineral density in men with genetic hemochromatosis and HFE gene mutation. 1592

Hereditary hemochromatosis is one of the most common autosomal recessive disorder among Caucasians since the genotype at risk for hemochromatosis accounts for 1:200-400 individuals of Northern European ancestry. The disease is characterized by an inappropriately increased intestinal iron absorption leading to early abnormalities of iron parameters followed by iron deposition in different organs. Excessive iron causes tissue damage and fibrosis, leading to organ failure. Clinical complications appear late in life and include liver cirrhosis, diabetes, cardiomyopathy, hypogonadism, arthropathy, skin pigmentation and susceptibility to liver cancer. Clinical symptoms develop only in homozygotes. Heterozy-gotes may show abnormalities of iron parameters, but are not clinically affected, unless carriers of other conditions which modify iron metabolism, such as chronic liver diseases, beta-thalassemia trait or other haemolytic anemias. The phenotypic expression of the disease is variable even within the same family, due to the effect of modifier genes or to environmental factors. Recent progress of genetics and molecular biology have shown that hemochromatosis is an heterogeneous disease, that may result from the inactivation of different genes. The identification of mutations of HFE and of other genes involved in the disease has allowed to develop molecular tests to support early diagnosis, allowing also to ameliorate the differential diagnosis with other iron loading disorders. In addition, the increased knowledge acquired from the study of hemochromatosis has contributed to clarify the pathophysiology of iron metabolism. For this reason hemochromatosis is considered a typical example of molecular medicine.
 ...
PMID:Inherited hemochromatosis: from genetics to clinics. 1617 62

Two hundred and seventy-three patients with thalassaemia major (TM) were followed in the Ferrara Thalassaemia Centre over a thirty-year period. Forty-two patients had insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). The first case was diagnosed in 1973. The incidence of IDDM peaked in 1986 (3.9%), and it was 0.7% at the time of the study (March 1998). The prevalence of IDDM increased progressively over time, reaching 14.2% in 1998. Mean age at diagnosis of IDDM was 18.2 -/+ 3.6 years and this also rose significantly during the study period (p<0.01). Hypogonadism was present in 91% of patients with IDDM, hypothyroidism in 68%, hypoparathyroidism in 21%, and cardiopathy in 69%, all significantly more prevalent than in patients without IDDM. These complications appeared with the same frequency before and after the diagnosis of IDDM. Survival of patients with and without IDDM was similar and no difference in the primary cause of death was found between the two groups. Main risk factors associated with IDDM were poor compliance with desferioxamine (DFO) treatment (p<0.05%), advanced age at the start of intensive chelation therapy (p<0.001), liver cirrhosis or severe fibrosis (p<0.0001, odds ratio 9.5, CI 95% 2.8-32.6). Prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) was highest in 1981, 1984, and 1985 when the incidence of IDDM was increasing; in 1995 the prevalence of IGT in patients aged 16-20 years was lower in comparison with that observed in 1975 (17% vs. 59%, p<0.01). Risk factors associated with IGT were: male sex (p<0.05), poor compliance with DFO therapy (p<0.05) and liver iron concentration 4 times above the normal value. In conclusion, our longitudinal study confirms that the incidence of IDDM and prevalence of IGT have been decreasing over the course of the last decade, appearing at a more advanced age, although some differences have not reached statistical significance. Iron overload and liver disease were the main associated risk factors, while positive family history for diabetes did not influence glucose metabolism in our patients.
 ...
PMID:Diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance in thalassaemia major: incidence, prevalence, risk factors and survival in patients followed in the Ferrara Center. 1646 13

Juvenile haemochromatosis is an autosomal, recessive inherited iron metabolism disorder. The rapid deterioration and malignant prognosis differentiate juvenile haemochromatosis from hereditary haemochromatosis. The authors summarize the history of a 25 year old man, who worked in Hungary as a guest worker living in Romania. No significant illness has occurred in his previous history. The abdominal pain was his first symptom and he was treated in different institutions, where cholecystitis, alcoholic hepatic disease, hepatic cirrhosis were considered as a cause of his symptoms. Some weeks later atrial tachycardia, and congestive heart failure were observed and he was sent to our Cardiology Department. The echocardiography revealed diffuse hypokinesis, serious systolic dysfunction (ejection fraction: 21%), grade II mitral and tricuspid insufficiency with pulmonary hypertension. Considering the rapid deterioration of his cardiac function, myocarditis was suspected. Myocardial biopsy and coronary arteriography were performed. Coronary arteries were normal. Ventricular fibrillation occurred during coronary arteriography. Myocardial biopsy revealed juvenile haemochromatosis. Special laboratory examinations (transferrin saturation) were made after biopsy, that also confirmed the diagnosis of juvenile haemochromatosis. Cardiac transplantation was planned. Some days after the diagnosis was made the patient died of cardiogenic shock and intractable heart failure. Autopsy revealed hypogonadism and serious haemochromatosis in different parenchymal organs. Juvenile haemochromatosis should be considered in every young patient with congestive heart failure of unknown etiology.
 ...
PMID:[Juvenile haemochromatosis presenting as intractable congestive heart failure]. 1646 15

Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) is a polypeptide hormone secreted by multiple tissues in response to growth hormone (GH). It is partly responsible for GH activity, and also has glucose-lowering and anabolizing effects. Ninety percent of circulating IGF-I originates in the liver and has autocrine, paracrine, and endocrine effects, the latter on multiple tissues. Liver cirrhosis results in a progressive decline of hepatic IGF-I output, and this factor may become undetectable in advanced disease. Some cirrhosis complications, mainly those nutritional and metabolic in nature (insuline resistance, malnutrition, osteopenia, hypogonadism, intestinal disorders), may be at least partly related to this IGF-I deficiency, since some IGF-I effects represent a reverse image of cirrhosis complications. Despite this, IGF-I replacement therapy has been never suggested for cirrhosis. A number of experimental studies in cirrhotic rats showed that therapy using low-dose recombinant IGF-I exerts two types of effect on experimental cirrhosis: a) liver improvement driven by improved hepatocellular function, portal hypertension, and liver fibrosis; and b) cirrhosis-related extrahepatic disorder improvement driven by improved food efficiency, muscle mass, bone mass, gonadal function and structure, and intestinal function and structure, with a normalization of sugar and amino acid malabsorption, and improved intstinal barrier function, manifested by reduced endotoxemia and bacterial translocation. Subsequently, the first randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, pilot clinical trial in a small number of cirrhotic patients showed increased serum albumin and improved energy metabolism as a result of IGF-I use. Further clinical trials are needed to identify adequate IGF-I doses, administration duration and frequency, and the subgroup of cirrhotic patients who will benefit most from this replacement therapy.
 ...
PMID:[Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and liver cirrhosis]. 1751 29

The two most frequent endocrine complications of hemochromatosis are diabetes mellitus and hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism. Other endocrine disorders related to this disease are very rare and are described especially in the most severe and earliest posttransfusion iron overloads. Endocrine complications are evidence of advanced hemochromatosis, often already associated with cirrhosis. Given the low frequency of HFE mutations in type 2 diabetes, routine genetic testing in this population does not seem reasonable. Testing for iron overload is recommended in subjects with atypical type 2 diabetes (for example, patients who are not overweight) and in cases of hypogonadism, characteristic pigmentation, or cirrhosis. Phlebotomy plays an important role in the management of endocrine complications of hemochromatosis, especially when diagnosis is early. In all cases of hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism, primary hemochromatosis must be considered.
 ...
PMID:[Endocrine consequences of hemochromatosis]. 1752 8

Liver cirrhosis, a highly prevalent chronic disease, is frequently associated with endocrine dysfunctions, notably in the gonadal axis. We evaluated lactotroph population by immunohistochemistry, gonadotropins and prolactin by immunoradiometric assay and testosterone and estradiol by radioimmunoassay in adult male Wistar rats with cirrhosis induced by carbon tetrachloride. No significant difference in mean +/- SEM percentages of lactotrophs was found between cirrhotic animals and controls (N = 12, mean 18.95 +/- 1.29%). Although there was no significant difference between groups in mean serum levels of prolactin (control: 19.2 +/- 4 ng/mL), luteinizing hormone (control: 1.58 +/- 0.43 ng/mL), follicle-stimulating hormone (control: 19.11 +/- 2.28 ng/mL), estradiol (control: 14.65 +/- 3.22 pg/mL), and total testosterone (control: 138.41 +/- 20.07 ng/dL), 5 of the cirrhotic animals presented a hormonal profile consistent with hypogonadism, all of them pointing to a central origin of this dysfunction. Four of these animals presented high levels of estradiol and/or prolactin, with a significant correlation between these two hormones in both groups (r = 0.54; P = 0.013). It was possible to detect the presence of central hypogonadism in this model of cirrhotic animals. The hyperestrogenemia and hyperprolactinemia found in some hypogonadal animals suggest a role in the genesis of hypogonadism, and in the present study they were not associated with lactotroph hyperplasia.
 ...
PMID:Male gonadal function, prolactin secretion and lactotroph population in an experimental model of cirrhosis. 1771 59

Osteomalacia rarely occurs in adult patients with chronic liver disease despite a low serum vitamin D level being reported in up to two-thirds of patients with cirrhosis. In contrast, osteoporosis, which increases the risk of vertebral fractures, occurs in 12%-55% of patients with cirrhosis. Although the prevalence is probably falling, as shown by a fall from 57%-26% in patients with biliary disease requiring liver transplantation over the last 2 decades, it still accounts for significant patient morbidity. Bone density also falls in the first 3 months after liver transplantation, and pretransplant fractures are predictive of posttransplant fractures. Many of the known risk factors for postmenopausal osteoporosis exist in the cirrhotic population, such as excess alcohol intake, steroid use, poor nutrition, and hypogonadism. There is also an increased risk of osteoporosis in patients without cirrhosis, particularly those with hemochromatosis and biliary disease. The diagnosis is made with bone density measurements. The effective treatment is largely based on evidence from postmenopausal osteoporosis as there have been only a few small clinical trials of patients with chronic liver disease. Bisphosphonates are the mainstay of treatment; they have been shown to be effective in biliary disease and are well tolerated.
 ...
PMID:Bone disorders in chronic liver disease. 1788 34

We report the case of a 56 year old male with hereditary haemochromatosis complicated by hepatic cirrhosis, insulin treated diabetes mellitus, hypogonadism and secondary hypothyroidism, the latter which was corrected by iron depletion. This is only the second such case to be reported.
 ...
PMID:Secondary hypothyroidism in hereditary hemochromatosis: recovery after iron depletion. 1820 49


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>