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)

A six-year-old, neutered male Siberian husky was presented for euthanasia for end-stage liver disease. Examination of the dog raised questions regarding the severity of the condition. It had presented to the referring veterinarian with polyuria, polydipsia and weight loss. Blood tests at that time revealed elevated liver enzymes and hypoalbuminaemia. Cirrhosis was presumptively diagnosed, based on an ultrasound examination, which showed ascites with a normal liver. The dog had a history of hypothyroidism, which was controlled with levothyroxine. Physical examination revealed cachexia. A second abdominal ultrasound examination was performed and revealed portal vein and aortic thromboses. Tick titres showed a positive Ehrlichia canis titre of 1:640. Skin biopsies showed lymphoplasmacytic vasculitis. Doxycycline and aspirin treatment was initiated, and the clinical signs resolved. The authors concluded that the thrombi were primarily caused by chronic ehrlichiosis, based on the clinical findings and the response to treatment.
 ...
PMID:Portal vein and aortic thromboses in a Siberian husky with ehrlichiosis and hypothyroidism. 1451 Mar 31

Brucella infection is a systemic disease, but the microorganism rarely causes infections in the gastrointestinal system such as hepatitis, cholecystitis, colitis and pancreatitis. Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis due to Brucella is extremely rare. Herein, we report a case of cirrhosis complicated with nongranulomatous hepatitis and peritonitis, both due to Brucella. A 63 year-old man with diabetes mellitus was admitted to hospital with complaints of weakness, backache, abdominal pain and abdominal swelling. On the basis of physical examination and laboratory findings, cryptogenic cirrhosis and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis were diagnosed. Due to persistent fever and backache, serum Brucella agglutination test was performed and found to be positive. Brucella melitensis was isolated from ascitic fluid culture. Liver biopsy findings revealed cirrhosis and a nongranulomatous hepatitis which was thought might be due to Brucella infection. Doxycycline and rifampicin, in addition to diuretics were administered for spontaneous ascites infection due to Brucella. A week later, the patient's condition improved and he became afebrile. After two months of therapy, the ascites had almost disappeared.
 ...
PMID:Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis due to Brucella infection. 1461 44

Bartonella henselae is the etiologic agent of the cat scratch disease and in immunocompromised patients, of bacillary angiomatosis and peliosis hepatis. Less often, ocular complications associated with B. henselae infection have been reported in immunocompetent patients and five times in HIV-infected patients. We report the case of a 42-year-old woman, coinfected by HIV-HCV, presenting with cirrhosis, who owned a cat and was hospitalized for bilateral loss of visual acuity. Ophthalmologic examination revealed bilateral papillitis with hyalitis. Nuclear magnetic resonance revealed a retrobulbar neuritis. Confirmation was given by blood tests positive for B. henselae and the exclusion of other causes of neuroretinitis with biological data. Doxycycline cured the disease rapidly.
 ...
PMID:[Ocular bartonellosis in an HIV-HVC coinfected patient]. 1870 80

Organ fibrosis is characterized by a chronic wound-healing response, with excess deposition of extracellular matrix components. Here, collagen type I represents the most abundant scar component and a primary target for antifibrotic therapies. Liver fibrosis can progress to cirrhosis and primary liver cancer, which are the major causes of liver related morbidity and mortality. However, a (pro-)collagen type I specific therapy remains difficult and its therapeutic abrogation may incur unwanted side effects. We therefore designed tetracycline-regulated procollagen alpha1(I) short hairpin (sh)RNA expressing mice that permit a highly efficient inducible knockdown of the procollagen alpha1(I) gene in activated (myo-)fibroblasts, to study the effect of induced procollagen type I deficiency. Transgenic mice were generated using recombinase-mediated integration in embryonic stem cells or zinc-finger nuclease-aided genomic targeting combined with miR30-shRNA technology. Liver fibrosis was induced in transgenic mice by carbon tetrachloride, either without or with doxycycline supplementation. Doxycycline treated mice showed an 80-90% suppression of procollagen alpha1(I) transcription and a 40-50% reduction in hepatic collagen accumulation. Procollagen alpha1(I) knockdown also downregulated procollagens type III, IV and VI and other fibrosis related parameters. Moreover, this was associated with an attenuation of chronic inflammation, suggesting that collagen type I serves not only as major scar component, but also as modulator of other collagens and promoter of chronic inflammation.
 ...
PMID:Inducible knockdown of procollagen I protects mice from liver fibrosis and leads to dysregulated matrix genes and attenuated inflammation. 2912 77