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

Because of the liver's dependence on arterial blood to exert its metabolic functions in cirrhosis of the liver, with or without thrombosis of the portal vein, the interruption of hepatic arterial flow for the palliative treatment of malignant tumors of the liver is counterindicated. However, the effects of arterial devascularization on the cholestatic liver are not fully understood. The objective of the present study was to investigate hepatic alterations due to hepatic artery ligation in rats with chronic extrahepatic cholestasis. Serum alkaline phosphatase, bilirubin and alanine aminotransferase were measured in rats 3 h after sham operation (group A, N = 29) or ligation of the hepatic artery (group B, N = 29). Alanine aminotransferase activity was significantly higher (P less than 0.05) in group B, demonstrating acute hepatocellular damage in animals with chronic extrahepatic cholestasis.
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PMID:Effect of hepatic artery ligation in rats with chronic extrahepatic cholestasis. 210 Oct 73

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the response of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) to recombinant alpha-interferon was related to the presence or absence of antibodies to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) in patients with chronic non-A,non-B hepatitis. A group of 65 patients with chronic non-A, non-B hepatitis was studied. The source of contamination was blood transfusion or administration of blood products in 32, intravenous drug addiction in 14 and unknown in 19. The patients received 1, 3 or 5 MU of recombinant alpha-interferon, three times a week, for 6 months. A complete response was defined as normal ALT by the end of recombinant alpha-interferon treatment. Sera collected before treatment were tested for anti-HCV with an enzyme immunoassay. The overall percentage of anti-HCV positive patients in the study group was 75%. There was no difference between the anti-HCV positive and the anti-HCV negative patients before the treatment with respect to age, sex ratio, source of contamination, serum albumin, prothrombin, bilirubin, ALT or prevalence of cirrhosis. In the anti-HCV positive and the anti-HCV negative groups, there was no difference in the proportion of patients receiving the 1, 3 or 5 MU dosage. The percentage of patients with complete response was not different in anti-HCV positive patients (48%) and in anti-HCV negative patients (50%). There was also no difference in the kinetics of the decrease of mean serum ALT levels between the two groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Is the response to recombinant alpha interferon related to the presence of antibodies to hepatitis C virus in patients with chronic non-A, non-B hepatitis? 164 37

Alpha-interferon has emerged as the most effective agent for the treatment of chronic hepatitis when active replication of virus B, C, or D is present. Exogenous administration of human alpha-interferon, now possible through modern large-scale production methods, is associated with suppression of virus in blood. Amelioration of liver disease occurs in 35% of patients with hepatitis B virus and in 50% with hepatitis C virus with interferon doses of 30 and 10 MU per week, respectively, for 16-26 weeks; after therapy, persistent normalization of serum alanine aminotransferase is observed in 35% and 27%, respectively. Similar results have now also been reported for chronic hepatitis D. Enhanced response rates (greater than 50%) may be obtained by prolonged intermittent interferon therapy. Combination of interferon with another 'antiviral' agent (vidarabine, acyclovir, prednisone) has not increased therapeutic efficacy. Alpha-interferon induces side effects such as fatigue, flu-like syndrome, myalgia, and changes in mood and granulocytes. Patients with decompensated cirrhosis are particularly prone to bacterial infection and disease exacerbation and should receive lower doses. Interferon, when applied skillfully, induces the highly beneficial transition of active viral replication into viral latency, thereby greatly reducing infectivity, symptoms, and activity of the liver disease. Prevention of death from liver failure or hepatocellular carcinoma is to be expected.
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PMID:Treatment of chronic viral hepatitis anno 1990. 212 46

Among 30 consecutive patients diagnosed with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) in Taiwan, 27 were females and the median age of symptom onset was 54.5 years. Most had similar clinical manifestations to those reported in the Western countries, but ascites and oesophageal varices as commonly found at the late stages of cirrhosis of liver were noted in nine patients (30%) and 13 patients (43%) respectively. Only one patient was asymptomatic. Hyperbilirubinaemia was noted in 21 patients (70%) and hypoalbuminaemia in 8 patients (27%). All patients had elevated serum alkaline phosphatase and alanine aminotransferase and 28 (93%) had antimitochondrial antibodies. Ten out of 21 patients (48%) were positive in antinuclear antibodies, of which most were of speckled type. Sixteen out of 18 patients (89%) had elevated serum IgM levels. Interestingly, only one of 26 patients (3.8%) was positive for hepatitis B surface antigen, in contrast to its high prevalence (15%) in the Taiwan population. Special associated diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, malignant lymphoma and hepatocellular carcinoma, were each noted in one patient respectively. Eight patients had a history of gallstones before the diagnosis of PBC. The mean follow-up period was 23.6 +/- 19.8 months, and nine patients died during that period. In conclusion, the clinical manifestations of PBC in Taiwan are similar to those in Western countries, but most of our cases were at later stages.
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PMID:Primary biliary cirrhosis in Taiwan. 212 28

To determine the course of hepatic recovery from subchronic oral administration of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), male F-344 rats were gavaged with 0, 20, or 40 mg CCl4/kg, 5 days/week, for 12 weeks. Exposure to CCl4 caused dosage-dependent increases in relative liver weight and the serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatase, and cholesterol as well as a dosage-dependent decrease in hepatic cytochrome P450. Centrilobular hepatocellular vacuolar degeneration, necrosis, and cirrhosis occurred at both 20 and 40 mg/kg, with dosage-dependent severity. Reversibility of these reported effects varied with parameter. By Day 8 postexposure, necrosis had disappeared and all serum indicators and cytochrome P450 had returned to control levels. By Day 15 postexposure, the severity of the vacuolar degeneration had decreased. Reversibility of cirrhosis was dosage dependent; complete recovery occurred in the low- but not the high-dose group by Day 15. The disappearance of the increase in relative liver weight was also dependent on dosage; the low- but not the high-dose group had returned to the control level by Day 22. In an attempt to measure persistent hepatic damage, liver uptake relative to the spleen was determined for a sulfur colloid labeled with technetium-99m and for tritiated 2-deoxyglucose. Neither method consistently measured hepatic damage in cirrhotic livers due, in part, to the high degree of variability in the tracer uptake data.
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PMID:Assessment of hepatic indicators of subchronic carbon tetrachloride injury and recovery in rats. 225 19

The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term outcome of chronic hepatitis B in 27 children who had increased alanine aminotransferase activity and antibody to hepatitis B e antigen in serum from the time of their first clinical observation. Initial histologic changes were consistent with chronic active hepatitis in 13 cases (three with associated cirrhosis) and with persistent or lobular hepatitis in the remaining cases. On the basis of virologic testing, three groups of patients were identified: (1) two children had hepatitis delta antigen in the liver and anti-delta antibody in serum, and both had severe hepatitis; (2) 10 children had hepatitis B virus DNA in serum, and 60% of them had active hepatitis; (3) 15 patients had no hepatitis B virus DNA, and 33% of them had active hepatitis. During a follow-up period of 12 months to 12 years (mean +/- SD: 6.1 +/- 2.4 years), the disease remained active in both children with anti-delta antibody, but they had no major complaints. In all eight patients who could be followed in group 2, test results became negative for hepatitis B virus DNA and alanine aminotransferase activity normalized within 4 years; biochemical remission was delayed in three patients with higher hepatitis B virus DNA levels on entry, and one of these patients had a severe exacerbation of disease activity before remission. In group 3, a total of 10 patients (71%) achieved biochemical remission within 1 year, and two within 26 months; only two patients, who were transfused at birth, had long-lasting liver damage. These results indicate a trend to early remission of liver disease in children with chronic hepatitis B with antibody to hepatitis B e antigen without delta virus infection. Antiviral therapy aimed at accelerating the termination of hepatitis B virus replication may be indicated only in those with higher levels of hepatitis B virus DNA.
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PMID:Long-term evolution of chronic hepatitis B in children with antibody to hepatitis B e antigen. 231 1

The clinical characteristics, laboratory results, and liver biopsy findings of seven workers with toxic liver injury associated with exposure to several solvents, including substantial levels of the widely used solvent dimethylformamide, are presented. Three patients had short exposure (less than 3 months), four long exposure (greater than 1 year). Among those with brief exposure, symptoms included anorexia, abdominal pain, and disulfiram-type reaction. Aminotransferases were markedly elevated with the ratio of alanine aminotransferase to aspartate aminotransferase always greater than 1. Liver biopsy showed focal hepatocellular necrosis and microvesicular steatosis with prominence of smooth endoplasmic reticulum, complex lysosomes, and pleomorphic mitochondria with crystalline inclusions. Among workers with long exposure, symptoms were minimal and enzyme elevations modest. Biopsies showed macrovesicular steatosis, pleomorphic mitochondria without crystalloids, and prominent smooth endoplasmic reticulum, but no evidence of persisting acute injury or fibrosis. Abnormal aminotransferases in both groups may persist for months after removal from exposure, but progression to cirrhosis in continually exposed workers was not observed. We conclude that exposure of these workers to solvents, chiefly dimethylformamide, may result in two variants of toxic liver injury with subtle clinical, laboratory, and morphological features. This may be readily overlooked if occupational history and biopsy histology are not carefully evaluated.
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PMID:Clinical and pathological characteristics of hepatotoxicity associated with occupational exposure to dimethylformamide. 237 79

Seventy-six children aged 1-13 years who were known to be positive for hepatitis B surface antigen and hepatitis B e antigen in serum for at least 6 months and who had biopsy-proven chronic hepatitis have been followed longitudinally for 1-12 years (mean, 5 years). Twenty-three of them are now young adults. Eight patients had acute type B hepatitis 12-24 months before entering the study, while 68 patients came to observation during a chronic phase. At the beginning of follow-up, all 76 children were positive in serum for hepatitis B virus DNA, and 44 (58%) had chronic active hepatitis, associated with cirrhosis in two cases. During follow-up, 23 (30%) patients remained hepatitis B e antigen-positive, most with unchanged biochemical and histological features. The other 53 (70%) cases seroconverted to hepatitis B e antibody and cleared hepatitis B virus DNA from serum, including 7 of 8 (87%) patients with acute hepatitis at presentation. After seroconversion, alanine aminotransferase levels normalized in all patients and remained normal in 49 patients (92.5%) throughout a mean observation period of 3 years. Five of these children, including 2 of 7 (29%) with previous acute hepatitis, eventually cleared hepatitis B surface antigen from their sera. Finally, 4 (7.5%) patients experienced a mild increase of alanine aminotransferase levels several months after seroconversion in the absence of hepatitis B virus replication or of delta virus superinfection. Clinical and virological parameters did not significantly differ between patients with or without acute onset; however, seroconversion occurred earlier, and the rate of hepatitis B surface antigen clearance was greater in the former than in the latter group. The present data indicate that approximately two thirds of children with hepatitis B e antigen- and hepatitis B virus DNA-positive chronic hepatitis clear hepatitis B virus DNA from their sera before reaching adulthood. After termination of viral replication, most patients achieve a sustained biochemical remission, suggesting the disappearance of disease activity. Reactivation of virus replication after hepatitis B e antibody seroconversion has never been observed in this series, although mild alanine aminotransferase level abnormalities could be detected in a minority of cases.
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PMID:Long-term outcome of chronic type B hepatitis in patients who acquire hepatitis B virus infection in childhood. 237 83

Sera from 714 mentally retarded carriers of hepatitis B surface antigen were screened for alpha fetoprotein (AFP) by monoclonal radioimmunoassay. Serum AFP levels were less than 20 mcg/L in 708 (99.2%) carriers. One 29-year-old carrier with normal liver function had serum AFP level of 1500 mcg/L, which increased to 12,500 mcg/L after 72 days. She died of multifocal hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with cirrhosis. Five other carriers with serum AFP levels between 20 and 165 mcg/L are alive without clinical HCC. No correlation was found between serum AFP level and race, age, sex, Down's syndrome, serum alanine aminotransferase level, and hepatitis B e antigen positivity. Single cross-sectional serum AFP screening by itself is not sufficient for early diagnosis of HCC.
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PMID:Serum alpha fetoprotein in 714 mentally retarded carriers of hepatitis B surface antigen. 245 44

In order to evaluate the behaviour of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and Tissue Polypeptide Antigen (TPA) in non neoplastic chronic hepatic diseases 60 patients suffering from chronic hepatitis have been studied, 28 of them with different ethiology cirrhosis, 4 with primary biliary cirrhosis (CBP), 18 with chronic active hepatitis (ECA), 5 with chronic persistent hepatitis (ECP), 3 suffering from alcoholic and 2 drug-induced hepatitis. In each case the diagnosis was biopsy-proved. We have found that TPA clearly shows an increase in about 90% of cirrhosis and in about 50% of ECA. Moreover, the group with non-A, non-B (NANB) cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis has shown a statistically significant correlation between TPA and alanine aminotransferase (ALT). On the other hand, AFP hants' shown statistically significant variations. The reasons of the TPA increase must probably be looked for in the marked sensitivity of this protein to non neoplastic tissues in rapid regeneration, in addition to the sensitivity to neoplastic tissues. Further studies will be carried out to evaluate the usefulness of TPA to tracing possible cytolitic relapses or any resumption of activity in hepatic cirrhosis.
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PMID:Alpha-fetoprotein and tissue polypeptide antigen in non neoplastic hepatic disorders. 248 Apr 32


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