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)

Ascites indicates the accumulation of fluid in the peritoneal cavity, due to a wide range of causes. These causes can be classified according to the presence of portal hypertension, severe blood dyscrasia and peritoneal disease. Cirrhosis is the most frequent cause of ascites. The occurrence of ascites in cirrhosis is due to portal hypertension, which is responsible for the increase in hydrostatic pressure at the sinusoidal level and the alterations of splanchnic and systemic haemodynamics. These latter include increased splanchnic inflow, reduced systemic resistance and increased plasma volume and cardiac output. Portal hypertension also plays a major role in determining sodium retention, which occurs in the setting of increased RAA system and SNS activity. The mechanisms by which portal hypertension leads to the activation of antinatriuretic factors and sodium retention are not completely understood; three main hypotheses have been proposed to explain this relationship, namely the underfilling, the overflow and the peripheral arterial vasodilatation theories. In patients with cirrhosis and ascites, there is an overall activation of the renal prostaglandin system, which probably acts to maintain renal haemodynamics and GFR by counteracting the vasoconstricting effects of AII and noradrenaline on renal circulation. In advanced stages, ascites may become refractory to medical treatment and renal function shows a progressive impairment and eventually acute renal failure, the so-called HRS, due to a marked vasoconstriction of the renal arteries and the opening of the intrarenal-arteriovenous (A-V) shunts. In this condition, the reduced renal synthesis of vasodilating prostaglandins is probably of pathogenic importance. Treatment of ascites is usually based on bed rest, low-sodium diet and administration of aldosterone antagonists and loop diuretics. A sequential treatment of ascites based on the progressive addition of more potent drugs is the best way to relieve ascites while avoiding potentially dangerous side-effects. Patients who fail to respond to the above manoeuvres are said to have refractory ascites. Current treatment of this latter condition is mainly based on therapeutic paracentesis and the application of the LeVeen shunt, but long-term results are unsatisfactory.
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PMID:Pathophysiology and treatment of ascites and the hepatorenal syndrome. 142 1

Eighteen immuno-compromised children (malignancies, hematological diseases, collagen diseases) with neutropenia and infections were treated with imipenem/cilastatin sodium (IPM/CS), and the efficacy and the safety of the drug were evaluated. 1. Responses to IPM/CS were excellent in 13 patients, good in 1, and fair in 4. None of the patients displayed a poor response to the treatment thus the efficacy rate was 77.8%. 2. Of 5 patients with sepsis, 4 had excellent or good responses. IPM/CS was effective against sepsis caused by Enterococcus faecalis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. 3. In patients with severe neutropenia (WBC less than 100/mm3), the efficacy rate was 70%. 4. As for side effects, elevations of GOT and GPT were observed in 1 patient with liver cirrhosis. These results indicate that IPM/CS is safe and effective in immuno-compromised children with neutropenia and infections.
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PMID:[Clinical evaluation of imipenem/cilastatin sodium against infections in compromised children (malignancy, hematological disease, collagen disease)]. 143 90

Duodenal and jejunal absorption of a nutrient solution at two different caloric loads (1.32 and 3.96 kcal/min = 5.6 and 16.8 kJ/min) was compared in chronic alcoholics without malnutrition, liver cirrhosis, obvious small-bowel dysfunction, and exocrine pancreatic insufficiency and in an age-matched control group, by means of the intestinal perfusion technique. In chronic alcoholics duodenal net absorption of water (p < 0.025), sodium (p < 0.02), potassium (p < 0.005), total nitrogen (p < 0.02), carbohydrates (p < 0.05), and lipids (p < 0.05) was lower than in controls when both caloric loads were administered, but jejunal absorption rates were not decreased. Biliopancreatic secretion did not differ between alcoholics and controls. Higher serum protein leakage in alcoholics was indicated by an increased (p < 0.01) duodenal alpha 1-antitrypsin clearance under low caloric load infusion. It is concluded that the absorptive function of the duodenum is impaired in alcoholics, whereas the upper jejunum is not affected.
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PMID:Absorption of a nutrient solution in chronic alcoholics without nutrient deficiencies and liver cirrhosis. 147 18

The acute effects of captopril in cirrhosis are well known but there are few descriptions of the pattern of response to chronic administration of captopril in this disease. Nine nonuraemic cirrhotic patients with ascites and portal hypertension were studied after 1 week on fixed sodium and water intake (balance diet) and following acute and chronic treatment with captopril (three doses of 25 mg every 30 min and 75 mg.day-1 for three weeks, respectively). Whilst on the balance diet, 7/9 patients were unable to excrete the amount of sodium ingested. After the acute administration of captopril, a significant reduction was seen in arterial blood pressure (86.9 vs 77 mm Hg), with no change in the intra-hepatic pressures (free suprahepatic pressure, FSHP: 15.0 vs 12.1 mm Hg and wedged suprahepatic pressure, WSHP: 22.9 vs 20.7 mm Hg). After chronic captopril treatment, a drop was observed in portal pressure (FSHP: 9.4 mm Hg and WSHP 18.8 mm Hg, NS) and the arterial pressure returned to its basal level. The plasma aldosterone concentration decreased, whilst noradrenaline and dopamine increased significantly, the latter more than the former, leading to a reduction in the noradrenaline/dopamine ratio (14.5 vs 5.0). Seven out of nine patients showed enhanced natriuresis and the remaining two, who previously had had a positive sodium balance failed to do so. These haemodynamic, hormonal and renal changes were interpreted as evidence of blockade of angiotensin II generation by captopril, and also as a homoeostatic response by the sympathetic nervous system.
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PMID:Portal pressure, renal function and hormonal profile after acute and chronic captopril treatment in cirrhosis. 148 84

A double-blind crossover study versus placebo of the renal effects of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug imidazole 2-hydroxybenzoate was conducted in 10 patients with compensated liver cirrhosis. The administration of the drug (750 mg, t.i.d., for three days) did not affect renal plasma flow, glomerular filtration rate, free water clearance nor the urinary excretion of sodium or potassium. Values of plasma renin activity also did not change after drug administration. Direct tubular damage from imidazole 2-hydroxybenzoate was also excluded by normal excretion of beta-2-microglobulin and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase. Urinary 6-keto-PGF1 alpha output were comparable during imidazole 2-hydroxybenzoate and placebo administration. These data indicate that this nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug does not affect the renal function in patients with compensated liver cirrhosis.
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PMID:Renal effects of imidazole-2-hydroxybenzoate in patients with compensated liver cirrhosis. 150 25

Of the many information obtainable from the urine of diabetic patients, urinary C-peptide (CPR), albumin and anti-diuretic hormone (ADH) were representatively described using my clinical and experimental data. C-peptide excretion in 24h collection of urine is a good estimate of insulin secretion from the pancreas and thus low in IDDM patients and even in NIDDM patients at a later stage, but high in pathological conditions including Graves' disease, obesity, liver cirrhosis and Cushing's syndrome. Urinary albumin excretion in small amounts (microalbuminuria) is usually observed in diabetic patients who have been under a poor control state of diabetic hyperglycemia for over 5 years and provides a good tool for monitoring early diabetic nephropathy. The grade of microalbuminuria (30-300 mg/day) is positively correlated with the HbA1 level in diabetic patients, showing that microalbuminuria is reversible along with an improvement of diabetic control at least in an early phase of diabetic nephropathy. As the albumin level measured in a spot urine sample correlates well with the value in the 24h collection of urine, the albumin measurement is conveniently feasible with a spot urine sample at every patient's visit. The amount of ADH excreted in urine is 7-10% of that secreted from the posterior pituitary. The excretion of ADH in a day was in the urine of diabetic patients positively correlated with HbA1, urinary osmolarity and concentration of sodium in urine, although the pathological meaning of the observed ADH hypersecretion in the development of diabetic complications is currently unknown.
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PMID:[Pathophysiological analysis of diabetes mellitus and complications from the urine of diabetic patients]. 150 92

The administration of atrial natriuretic factor to patients with cirrhosis, and avid sodium retention causes marked hypotension and blunted kidney responses. To evaluate whether the unresponsiveness of the kidney is caused by a fall in mean blood pressure below a critical value for the renal blood perfusion pressure (80 mm Hg), we studied nine such patients and compared the effects of synthetic atrial natriuretic factor alone (1 micrograms/kg as a bolus) with those of an atrial natriuretic factor combination with infused norepinephrine titrated to raise baseline blood pressure by 15 to 20 mm Hg (182 to 625 ng/kg/min). The administration of atrial natriuretic factor during norepinephrine infusion caused a fall in mean blood pressure to values not less than 80 mm Hg in eight of nine patients, with a slight natriuresis (greater than 5 mumol/min) in five patients but no changes in the other four. The mean urinary sodium output was markedly lower than that previously observed after atrial natriuretic factor injection into normal subjects and into cirrhotic patients without avid sodium retention. Unlike sodium excretion, urine flow rate and free water clearance (which were not affected by atrial natriuretic factor alone) were markedly improved by the coadministration of norepinephrine and atrial natriuretic factor. In four additional patients we studied the urinary electrolyte excretion during a low-dose infusion of atrial natriuretic factor (20 ng/kg/min) to which an infusion of norepinephrine titrated to maintain blood pressure over 80 mm Hg was added. In only one of these four patients urinary sodium output consistently increased during atrial natriuretic factor infusion, and the output increased even more when norepinephrine was added.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Renal effects in cirrhotic patients with avid sodium retention of atrial natriuretic factor injection during norepinephrine infusion. 153 1

Measurements of plasma atrial natriuretic peptide concentrations at 8 AM showed raised levels in 21 patients with cirrhosis and ascites (10.5 +/- 0.8 pmol/L) compared with levels in 10 age-matched controls (4.1 +/- 0.64 pmol/L; p less than 0.0001). In eight patients and 10 controls, atrial natriuretic peptide, plasma renin activity, plasma aldosterone and urinary sodium excretion were measured every 4 hr for 24 hr. Subjects were mobile between 8 AM and 11 PM and supine from 11 PM to 8 AM. In controls, urinary sodium excretion was highest between 4 PM and 11 PM (19.34 +/- 3.74 mumol/min) and lowest between midnight and 8 AM (7.06 +/- 1.23 mumol/min; p less than 0.001). In patients, urinary sodium excretion was 0.63 +/- 0.14 mumol/min between 4 PM and midnight and 1.85 +/- 0.71 mumol/min (p less than 0.08) between midnight and 8 AM. In patients during the day, mean plasma atrial natriuretic peptide concentration did not change despite large individual variation, but large, sustained rises in plasma renin activity and plasma aldosterone were seen. Correlations were noted between atrial natriuretic peptide and urinary sodium excretion between midnight and 8 AM (r = 0.65; p less than 0.02) and 4 PM and midnight (r = 0.54; p less than 0.05) but not between 8 AM and 4 PM. Plasma renin activity dropped from 12.54 +/- 2.49 at midnight to 7.41 +/- 0.88 pmol/hr/ml at 8 AM (p less than 0.05); plasma aldosterone decreased from 1,032 +/- 101 to 798 +/- 56 pmol/L (p less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Plasma atrial natriuretic peptide and renin-aldosterone in patients with cirrhosis and ascites: basal levels, changes during daily activity and nocturnal diuresis. 153 9

Endothelin is a newly discovered potent vasoconstrictor peptide. To explain the clinical significance of endothelin in patients with chronic liver diseases, we measured the plasma concentration of endothelin in patients with chronic hepatitis (n = 15), cirrhosis with ascites (n = 8) and cirrhosis without ascites (n = 12), and we compared the findings with the plasma concentration of endothelin in normal controls (n = 14). The plasma endothelin concentration was significantly higher in patients with cirrhosis with ascites than in normal controls (8.3 +/- 2.3 pg/ml vs. 3.3 +/- 1.4 pg/ml, mean +/- S.D., p less than 0.001), whereas no significant difference was observed between normal controls and the other groups of patients (cirrhosis without ascites = 5.0 +/- 1.3 pg/ml; chronic hepatitis = 3.8 +/- 1.2 pg/ml). In patients with cirrhosis, the plasma endothelin concentration showed a significant negative correlation with creatinine clearance (r = -0.73, p less than 0.01), but no significant correlation was observed between plasma endothelin concentration and fractional excretion of filtered sodium. Furthermore, plasma endothelin levels were significantly higher in patients with endotoxemia than in those without (10.1 +/- 2.1 pg/ml vs. 4.9 +/- 1.2 pg/ml, p less than 0.001). From these results, elevated plasma endothelin, which has a close relation to endotoxemia, may play a contributory role in kidney dysfunction in patients with cirrhosis.
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PMID:Clinical significance of elevated plasma endothelin concentration in patients with cirrhosis. 153 10

A pathological state of arterial vasodilation has been postulated to cause the increased cardiac output commonly observed in cirrhosis. Further, subsequent arterial underfilling has been proposed as the stimulus to sodium retention and ascites formation. Left ventricular size during the cycle of a cardiac contraction is predictably altered by a decrease in afterload. Specifically, increased systolic emptying should be observed. The relationship of left ventricular size during the cardiac cycle to systemic hemodynamic indices and urinary sodium retention was investigated in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis to test these hypotheses. Echocardiographic studies were performed on 24 male patients with alcoholic cirrhosis and compared with the results obtained in 10 age-matched male controls. Patients with cirrhosis had increased cardiac output and heart rate and decreased arterial pressure compared with normal subjects, confirming the presence of a hyperdynamic circulation. Patients with cirrhosis had enlarged left ventricular diameter at both end diastole (0.08 +/- 0.01 vs. 0.07 +/- 0.007 cm/kg dry body wt; P less than 0.001) and end systole (0.06 +/- 0.01 vs. 0.05 +/- 0.005 cm/kg; P less than 0.05). Left ventricular end-diastolic diameter was directly related to blood volume (r = 0.56, P less than 0.005). No significant differences in cardiac output, arterial pressure, or systemic resistance were found between patients with and patients without ascites. Increased cardiac output in cirrhosis occurs in conjunction with an enlarged ventricle throughout the cardiac cycle. The increase in left ventricular end-systolic diameter indicates that diminished afterload is not responsible for the increase in cardiac output. As the diameter of the ventricle during diastolic filling correlates with vascular volume, cardiac output in cirrhosis may be primarily determined by an increase in vascular volume.
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PMID:Arterial vasodilation is not the cause of increased cardiac output in cirrhosis. 153 94


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