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)

The levels of serum folic acid and vitamin B12 were determined in 40 cases of liver cirrhosis with radioimmunoassay. It was shown that in 87.5% of the patients folic acid level was lower than that of a control group and in 67.5% serum vitamin B12 level was higher than that of the control group (P less than 0.05). The correlation between liver cirrhosis and dysbolism of folic acid and vitamin B12 and the megaloblastic changes and clinical significance were discussed.
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PMID:[Changes in serum folic acid and vitamin B12 levels in liver cirrhosis and its clinical significance]. 158 42

Sera from 242 South African blacks with hepatocellular carcinoma were assayed for unsaturated vitamin B12 binding capacity (UBBC) and vitamin B12 activity. Six patients were younger than 20 years of age, and 24% were younger than 30 years of age. Eighty-four percent of the patients had a slightly raised UBBC and 86% had a slightly elevated vitamin B12 value, but in no patient was an exceptionally high UBBC present. Serum UBBC and vitamin B12 were not higher in younger patients, and raised UBBC values were not related to serum alpha-fetoprotein values. Serum UBBC and vitamin B12 concentrations were not significantly different in patients with and without coexisting cirrhosis. In none of the patients with a UBBC above 3000 pg/ml was the fibrolamellar variant of hepatocellular carcinoma present. The authors conclude that South African blacks with hepatocellular carcinoma do not secrete an abnormal vitamin B12 binding protein.
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PMID:Serum vitamin B12 binders in South African blacks with hepatocellular carcinoma. 241 92

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a rapidly fatal neoplasm of high worldwide prevalence. Fibromellar carcinoma (FLC), a variant of HCC, lacks the dismal prognosis of "ordinary" HCC (O-HCC) and is characterized by a diagnostic histologic appearance. The current study analyzes the clinical characteristics, immunohistochemistry, and treatment of nineteen cases of FLC. These data, together with a detailed review of the literature, further characterize this unique variant. FLC affects younger patients and lacks the male predominance of O-HCC. Also, FLC lacks specific association with cirrhosis, hepatitis B virus infection, use of oral contraceptives, and alcohol abuse, all of which are implicated in other hepatic tumors. This, along with differences in serum tumor marker prevalence (AFP, B12 binding protein) suggests that its pathogenesis differs from that of O-HCC. Despite these differences, FLC shares a common differentiation with O-HCC. The increased amounts in FLC of stainable alpha-1-antitrypsin, fibrinogen, and C-reactive protein, all of which are acute phase reactants and normal hepatocyte products, implies better differentiation of FLC cells. Finally, the better prognosis of FLC is supported by this study, since only two of the 19 patients died because of tumor. This contrasts with the reported survival of patients with O-HCC, usually measured in weeks. Hepatic transplantation may hold promise for future patients with "surgically unresectable" FLC as procedure-related complications are overcome.
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PMID:Fibrolamellar carcinoma of the liver: an immunohistochemical study of nineteen cases and a review of the literature. 245 77

Of 72 patients who underwent jejunoileal bypass because of morbid obesity, 69 could be evaluated with special reference to long-term (median 11 years) results. One of the other three had fatal anastomotic leakage, one underwent resection and reversal of shunt because of postoperative gangrene in the bypassed segment, and one died of sepsis and liver failure following cholecystectomy 6 months after bypass. The median body mass index (kg/m2) fell from 45.4 preoperatively to 33.2 after 16 years. Shunt-related complications in early and late follow-up were diarrhoea (n = 15), anal/perianal disorders (15), arthralgia (15), urinary calculi (16), cholelithiasis (5), severe flatulence (7), liver cirrhosis (5), intestinal tuberculosis (1), ileitis (1), severe electrolyte disturbance (4), hypomagnesaemia (22), hypokalaemia (8), and deficiency of vitamin B12 (24), iron (24) and folate (17). Although jejunal bypass effectively reduces weight, the patients are at continuous risk of many complications. However, the improvement in quality of life should not be underestimated.
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PMID:Jejunoileal bypass for morbid obesity. Report of a series with long-term results. 259 48

The lipotropes (choline, methionine, folate, and vitamin B12) have a rich history, with many fluctuations in scientific effort and popularity, covering the past 6 decades. A thin thread of common interest in 1-carbon metabolism and a small band of dedicated individuals have kept this area of biology alive. Today, the lipotropes are enjoying a resurgence of interest and effort with promise for significant contributions to some of our most serious chronic diseases. Between 1920, when Banting and Best initiated a work that led to the discovery of insulin, and 1982-83, when investigators working in 3 laboratories announced that lipotrope deficiency alone could result in liver cancer in rodents, many have used this model to study nutritional problems and, more recently, carcinogenesis. Lipotropes are important to lipid metabolism and to synthesis and maintenance of cellular membranes. When weanling rats were fed a diet low in lipotropes, within a few days the liver accumulated lipid, first in the centrilobular zone and later throughout the entire lobule and lobe. If the diet was continued for a longer period, the liver underwent fibrosis and cirrhosis with some rats ultimately developing hepatocellular carcinoma. Although lipotrope deficiency can result in liver cancer, all hepatocarcinogens tested thus far were enhanced in their activity by diets low in lipotropes. Important changes associated with lipotrope deficiency included membrane damage, decreased serum very low density lipoprotein and drug metabolizing enzymes, decreases in S-adenosylmethionine and in methylation of cytosine, increases in cellular peroxidation products and free radicals, decreased immunocompetence, and a markedly shortened lag time for chemical induction of liver cancer in animals. The overall effect of lipotrope deficiency is an increase in the susceptibility to cancer in animals; the exact mechanisms are unclear.
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PMID:Lipotropic factors and oncogenesis. 303 98

Relationship between increased serum cobalamin level and liver disease have been recently reported. In this work, levels of total corrinoids, cobalamin (vitamin B12) and cobalamin analogues and levels of IgA were determined by radioisotope dilution assay and nephelometric laser analyses. They all have been measured in superior vena cava, inferior vena cava and hepatic vein of controls and of alcoholic cirrhotic patients grouped according to the Child-Pugh classification. Compared with normal subjects, venous blood content of total corrinoids, of cobalamin and of IgA in alcoholic cirrhotics increased significantly with the severity of the disease (p less than 0.01). In severe, moderate, and mild alcoholic cirrhosis total corrinoids and cobalamin were, respectively, about 5-, 2-, and 1.5-fold higher than in controls, whereas IgA was 3-, 2.5- and 1.5-fold higher, respectively. The serum IgA level was significantly correlated with the level of seric saturated haptocorrin (r = 0.54; p less than 0.01) and with the seric total corrinoids (r = 0.39; p less than 0.01). In the absence of significant hepatic cytolysis, the enhanced level of seric corrinoids in cirrhosis could be partly explained by a competitive inhibition of the liver uptake of haptocorrin by circulating asialoglycoproteins, including IgA.
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PMID:Increased serum corrinoids correlates with disease severity and IgA levels in alcoholic cirrhosis. 324 81

The figures obtained in simultaneous radioimmunological assays of serum folate and vitamin B12 concentrations and erythrocyte folate concentration in 74 patients are presented. All these patients had a regular daily intake of over 80 g ethyl alcohol and presented an increase in mean blood cell volume. Most of the patients were males hospitalised with liver disease and/or anaemia. All were given bone narrow needle aspirations and liver biopsies. 46% of the patients presented a reduction in erythrocyte folates but vitamin B12 deficiency was rarely encountered. Megaloblastic transformation of the bone narrow was present in 56% of the alcoholics with reduced erythrocyte folates and in 10% of those with normal folate concentration. No correlation was found between serum and erythrocyte folate concentration and degree of liver damage. Serum vitamin B12 levels were higher in patients with cirrhosis. Inadequate diet was frequently found in the alcoholics with reduced folate concentrations. Due to variations in patient selection it is difficult to compare these data with those of other series but they do seem to confirm the hypothesis that the macrocytosis in most "healthy" alcoholics reflects a direct toxic action of the alcohol on erythropoiesis. In contrast folate deficiency is found among "derelict" chronic alcoholics in whom the vitamin deficiency has often not yet produced megaloblastosis of the bone marrow.
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PMID:[Macrocytosis, megaloblastosis and folate status in chronic alcoholics]. 358 23

160 hospitalized chronic alcoholics (124 men and 36 women) were evaluated by the same person. 21 biologic parameters were assessed. A histopathological examination of the liver was performed in 57.5% of the cases. The average daily alcohol consumption (ADAC) during the last five years exceeded 80 g in 140 patients. Results were as follows. Alcoholics usually have a poor socio-economic and professional background and a low educational level, most of them being farmers or workers. The ADAC is 170 g/day for an average duration of 32 +/- 3 years. The diet is unbalanced. The consumption of tobacco is related to age, sex and ADAC. There is no significant correlation between hepatic lesions (cirrhosis: 37 cases, alcoholic hepatitis without cirrhosis: 83 cases, normal liver: 36 cases) and age, sex, diet, ADAC, or the duration of intoxication. Pancreatic involvement was found in 13 patients (6.8%). Neuropsychiatric features were present in 92% of the patients. A significant correlation was found between stellar angiomas, clinical liver involvement, and ADAC, between palmar erythrosis, and clinical liver involvement and between hippocratism and ADAC. VMC and Gamma GT levels are significantly correlated to liver involvement and ADAC. There is a linear correlation between VMC and Gamma GT. The Gamma GT/BUN ratio is significantly correlated to ADAC. No correlation was found between serum vitamin B12, serum folic acid and VMC. No patient was HbS antigen-positive. Anti-HbS antibodies were found in 19.2% of the cases.
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PMID:[A medical investigation of 160 chronic alcoholic patients hospitalized in a department of internal medicine. Nature and pathological consequences of the intoxication (author's transl)]. 627 38

Ten (9.3%) of 107 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma had considerably increased serum unsaturated vitamin B12 binding capacity. All 10 were young (mean 12 years), had no serum alpha-fetoprotein, and no underlying cirrhosis; all had a longer survival compared with patients without increased serum unsaturated vitamin B12 binding capacity in the study. Seven of the 10 patients had fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma, a recently recognised histological variant, which was found in only one young patient without increased serum unsaturated vitamin B12 binding capacity and no alpha-fetoprotein among the remaining 97. This high degree of correlation between increased serum unsaturated vitamin B12 binding capacity and fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma has not been reported before. Increased serum unsaturated vitamin B12 binding capacity may be of considerable help in diagnosis, prognosis, and monitoring treatment of this well-defined group of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma but no alpha-fetoprotein.
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PMID:High serum vitamin B12 binding capacity as a marker of the fibrolamellar variant of hepatocellular carcinoma. 628 65

In 62 patients with cystic fibrosis the serum vitamin B12 concentration ranged from 160-2600 pmol/l with a mean of 1 105 pmol/l. Both vitamin B12-binding proteins in the serum, transcobalamin II and R-binders, carried increased amounts of vitamin B12, but showed relatively normal levels of unsaturated vitamin B12-binding capacity. This combination is rather typical for hepatic dysfunction, although the recurrent pulmonary infections might exert an upward effect on plasma R-binder concentration through increased turnover of myeloid cells. A significant positive correlation between transcobalamin II-vitamin B12 and serum alkaline phosphatase suggests that transcobalamin II-bound vitamin B12 might be an early indicator of focal biliary cirrhosis, which is known to occur in these patients.
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PMID:Elevated serum vitamin B12 in cystic fibrosis. 652 65


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