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)

Changes in serum procollagen-III-peptide (PIIIP) and intravenous tryptophan tolerance test (ITT) were studied in 121 patients with liver cirrhosis during a follow-up period of up to 18 months. The patients received either nifedipine (31 cases, 60 mg/day), verapamil (28 cases, 120 mg/day), cinnarizine (29 cases, 150 mg/day) or tetrandrine (33 cases, 150 mg/day). The significant changes were found in ITT in any of the four drugs administrated for over three months. Serum PIIIP concentration decreased significantly in patients under tetrandrine therapy for 18 months (12.06 +/- 3.91 ng/ml vs 16.57 +/- 5.69 ng/ml before treatment). These data suggest that tetrandrine therapy may have favourable effects on hepatic fibrosis and improvement of liver function in liver cirrhosis.
 ...
PMID:[Significance of serum procollagen-III-peptide in reflecting the therapeutic effects of calcium-channel blockers on hepatic fibrosis]. 208 11

An intravenous tryptophan tolerance test (ITrpTT) was designed for liver function since 95% Trp is metabolized by the liver. After an intravenous loading dose of 4 mg/kg body weight, serum levels of both free (F) and total (T) Trp were determined at 45 and 60 minutes. In normal controls and nonhepatic-disease patients, F45 (60) and T45 (60) did not exceed 7 mumol/L and 80 mumol/L, respectively, and F/T ratio not greater than 0.14. These were set up as cutoffs of upper normal limits. The test was abnormal in 87.5% of chronic persistent hepatitis (CPH) characterized by elevation of T45 (60), 100% of chronic active hepatitis (CAH) by elevation of F45 (60) and/or T45 (60), and 100% of hepatic cirrhosis by increase in F45 (60) and F/T ratio but not in T45 (60). The test seems to be more sensitive than the conventional tests for liver function. However, one should be cautious in interpretation of the test as there are some factors which might influence the Trp metabolism like exercise, alcoholism, corticosteroids and enzyme-inducers. It merits as an indication of liver dysfunction only when these factors are considered and excluded.
 ...
PMID:Intravenous tryptophan tolerance test for liver function. 216 18

Hepatobiliary scintigraphy was performed in 23 normal subjects and 47 patients with chronic liver disease (chronic hepatitis; n = 27, liver cirrhosis; n = 20) to evaluate its availability as a test of liver function. After intravenous administration of Tc-99m N-pyridoxyl-5-methyl-tryptophan, the data were acquired for 60 min and the time-activity curves of ROIs (the heart and liver) were generated. In two compartment model simulation, the early blood clearance rate (kl), late blood clearance rate (km), hepatic uptake rate (ku) hepatic excretion rate (ke), and hepatic excretion T 1/2 were calculated. There was no significant difference in those four k values in normal and chronic hepatitis. However, in liver cirrhosis each of them, except km, was lower than in normal subjects. The kl value correlated closely with the indocyanine green plasma clearance test, whereas the ke and T 1/2 values were closely correlated with the level of serum bilirubins. Only hepatobiliary scintigraphy showed the excretory function of the liver quantitatively and the ke value was helpful in detecting hepatic excretory dysfunction early in chronic liver disease before serum bilirubins increased.
 ...
PMID:Assessment of hepatic excretory function in chronic liver disease by hepatobiliary scintigraphy. 264 59

We measured the plasma concentration of a centrally derived noradrenaline (NA) metabolite, 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethyleneglycol (MHPG), in 20 cirrhotic patients (eight with (group A) and 12 without (group B) hepatic encephalopathy (HE] and in 14 age matched healthy subjects to study if the central NA metabolism would be altered in liver cirrhosis patients, particularly in those with HE. The mean (SEM) plasma MHPG concentrations in the patient groups, group A (74.9 (8.6) pmol/l) and B (54.8 (7.2) pmol/l), were significantly (p less than 0.01) greater than in the control group (22.3 (2.0) pmol/l), and that in group A was significantly (p less than 0.05) greater than in group B. The plasma concentration of MHPG observed in these study subjects (n = 34) correlated (rs = 0.77, p less than 0.01) more strongly with the ratio of plasma catecholamine precursor amino acids (tyrosine and phenylalanine) to other neutral amino acids (tryptophan, leucine, isoleucine, and valine) known to compete with catecholamine precursor amino acids for uptake into the brain than with plasma concentration of tyrosine plus phenylalanine alone (rs = 0.63, p less than 0.01). In addition, the mean plasma MHPG concentrations measured in another group of eight cirrhotic patients (group C) during HE (79.3 (10.6) pmol/l) was significantly (p less than 0.01) greater than that measured after the recovery from HE (47.2 (5.2) pmol/l). The results suggest that the central NA metabolism may be altered in patients with liver cirrhosis, particularly in those with HE, and that the derangement in the central NA metabolism may be associated not only with an increase in plasma catecholamine precursor amino acids but also with a decrease in branched chain amino acids.
 ...
PMID:Raised plasma concentrations of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethyleneglycol in cirrhotic patients with or without hepatic encephalopathy. 273 59

Cerebral blood flow (CBF), measured by the non-invasive 133-Xenon inhalation method, plasma levels of ammonia (NH3) and free tryptophan (fTRP) were determined in 30 cirrhotic patients without overt encephalopathy. Psychometric evaluation detected subclinical hepatic encephalopathy (SHE) in 20 of them, and was normal in the other 10. A significant CBF difference (p less than 0.05) was found between the SHE and the non-SHE patients. fTRP levels were significantly (p less than 0.05) higher in patients with SHE than in those without SHE, and a significant negative correlation (p = 0.003) was found between CBF values and fTRP in the whole group of patients. NH3 did not differ in the two subgroups and did not correlate with CBF values. It is concluded that CBF could have some implications in SHE, although its relevance is still unclear. The negative correlation between CBF and fTRP prompts further investigation concerning the relationships between plasma fTRP, brain serotonin, cerebral metabolism and blood flow in the development of brain derangement during cirrhosis.
 ...
PMID:Cerebral blood flow and plasma free tryptophan in cirrhotics with and without hepatic encephalopathy. 279 14

Melatonin is an indolamine synthesized from tryptophan in the pineal gland. It is regarded as "the epiphyseal hormone". Its antigonadotropic action has been demonstrated in animals, both in vitro and in vivo, together with its inhibitory effect on numerous endocrine functions and its anti-convulsive properties. Recently developed assay methods have made it possible to obtain clinical data, for the moment purely descriptive. Melatonin is present in several body fluids, such as urine, blood and cerebrospinal fluid. It is secreted in circadian cycles, with low concentrations during the day and high concentrations at night; sex has no influence on this pattern, but secretion is highest in the summer and winter and lowest in the spring and autumn. The part played by melatonin in the genesis of puberty is undetermined. Melatonin secretion appears to be mediated by the adrenergic system, since beta-blockers inhibit the nocturnal rise. However, contrary to what happens in animals, most beta-adrenergic stimulants do not increase melatonin concentrations. Abnormal concentrations or perturbations in the melatonin secretion rhythm have been demonstrated in such diseases as breast cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, Klinefelter's syndrome, Cushing's syndrome and haemochromatosis. Depressive syndromes are often associated with abnormal melatonin cycles. It has been suggested that melatonin could be used as a biological marker in cancer and psychiatric diseases, but its physiological function in man remains obscure.
 ...
PMID:[Melatonin]. 293 8

Malnutrition is frequently associated with advanced cirrhosis. To investigate the role of portal hypertension in nutritional impairment, we developed an animal model to isolate and characterize the effects of chronic intestinal venous hypertension on intestinal nutrient absorption. We performed mesenteric arteriovenous anastomosis combined with portal vein banding in rats. Hepatic architecture and excretory function (bile flow and bile salt output) were unaltered, while severe and persistent intestinal venous hypertension was produced. We then measured in vivo absorption rates of three test nutrients (vitamin D3, valine, and tryptophan) and water. Vitamin D3 absorption was significantly impaired by intestinal congestion, while amino acid absorption was unaffected. Splanchnic hypertensive rats absorbed less water than controls. We conclude that chronic intestinal venous hypertension alone selectively impairs nutrient absorption.
 ...
PMID:Selective impairment of nutrient absorption from intestines with chronic venous hypertension. 300 45

The effects of the administration of tryptophan on toxic cirrhosis induced by intermittent carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) intoxication in the rat were investigated. Rats received CCl4 (0.45 ml/100 g body wt ip) twice weekly for 10-14 weeks. Tryptophan (30 mg/100 g body wt) by stomach tube was administered 1 hr before killing. Tryptophan improved hepatic polyribosomal aggregation and [14C]leucine incorporation into protein in vitro of control rats as well as long-term CCl4-treated rats that had developed toxic cirrhosis. However, the effects were more marked in control than in experimental rats. Tryptophan administration induced an increase in labeled nuclear RNA release in vitro and a decrease in labeled tryptophan binding to nuclear protein in vitro of livers of rats receiving long-term CCl4 and of control rats. The results indicate that the stimulatory effects of a single administration of tryptophan in toxic cirrhotic livers are similar to, but somewhat less than, those which occur in livers of normal, control rats.
 ...
PMID:Effect of tryptophan on toxic cirrhosis induced by intermittent carbon tetrachloride intoxication in the rat. 339 62

The disposition of free and of total tryptophan following an intravenous load of 1.5 g of L-tryptophan was evaluated in eight patients with non-cirrhotic liver disease, 40 patients with cirrhosis of the liver (21 Child's A, 15 Child's B, 4 Child's C) and in 14 healthy subjects. Cirrhosis affected disposition of tryptophan by (a) decreasing the clearance of both free and total tryptophan by 64% (P less than 0.001) and 34% (P less than 0.01), respectively, (b) by increasing the apparent volume of distribution of total tryptophan by 42% (P less than 0.01) by expansion of the peripheral compartment, resulting in (c) a threefold increase in the half-life of tryptophan. Apart from a reduction in free tryptophan clearance, these changes in tryptophan disposition were not apparent in patients with non-cirrhotic liver disease. Elevated fasting free tryptophan plasma concentrations are an indicator of impaired tryptophan metabolism in cirrhosis. They result from a decreased hepatic clearance of tryptophan rather than from a reduction in tryptophan protein binding. This study emphasises the markedly differing pharmacokinetic behaviour of tryptophan in cirrhotic patients compared with normal subjects and with patients with non-cirrhotic liver disease.
 ...
PMID:The disposition of intravenous L-tryptophan in healthy subjects and in patients with liver disease. 356 9

We have measured the plasma concentration of neutral amino acids before and after an oral glucose tolerance test (100 g) in patients with liver cirrhosis (LC), chronic active hepatitis (CAH), chronic persistent hepatitis (CPH), acute hepatitis in the acute stage (AHa) and acute hepatitis in the convalescent stage (AHc) and normal controls. The ratio of the concentration of an amino acid to the sum of those of the other neutral amino acids that compete during transport through the blood brain barrier (BBB), which was reported to correlate well with the brain level of the amino acid, was compared in patients with various liver diseases. The ratios of Trp (Trp/Tyr + Phe + Ile + Leu + Val), Tyr, Phe, and Val increased after glucose loading in all subjects, except Tyr in normal controls, which slightly decreased. On the other hand, Ile and Leu ratios decreased (Trp; tryptophan, Tyr; tyrosine, Phe; phenylalanine, Ile; isoleucine, Leu; leucine, Val; valine). LC showed a characteristic pattern; the ratios of Trp and Tyr were highest among all diseases at 3 hours after glucose loading, and those of Ile, Leu and Val were lowest. We assumed that delta an amino acid ratio = the amino acid ratio at 3 hrs after glucose loading minus the amino acid ratio at 0 hr. In LC, delta Trp ratio and delta Tyr ratio were highest, while delta Val ratio was lowest. The delta Phe ratios in AHa and AHc were significantly higher than those in healthy controls. From these results, the uptake of Trp and Tyr might be supposed to be highest and that of Val was lowest in LC, after glucose loading.
 ...
PMID:Changes in plasma amino acids during the oral glucose tolerance test in hepatic diseases. 357 Jan 38


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