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)

Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP), a fascinating disease that had been reported perhaps 50 times in varying guises over the preceding century, suddenly burst forth in the 1960s and was recognized in clusters of cases almost simultaneously in Paris, London, and West Haven, Connecticut. The spectrum of the disease has broadened. Initially, it was associated almost exclusively with alcoholic cirrhosis, but it has now been found in association with posthepatitic cirrhosis, cryptogenic cirrhosis, chronic active liver disease, and, occasionally, in biliary cirrhosis and cardiac cirrhosis. Recently, it has been reported in alcoholic hepatitis and acute viral hepatitis. It occurs occasionally in malignant ascites and in pancreatitis in the absence of cirrhosis. It is surprisingly common in disseminated lupus, in which it occurs relatively more commonly than in alcoholic cirrhosis. A similar syndrome, primary peritonitis, occurs frequently in children with nephrotic ascites. The clinical pattern of SBP has broadened. Initially it consisted of abdominal pain, fever, rebound tenderness, hypoactive bowel sounds, hypotension, encephalopathy, and cloudy ascites with large numbers of polymorphonuclear leukocytes in ascitic fluid. Each and every symptom, sign, and laboratory abnormality may be absent; indeed, the syndrome can be completely silent. Initially, the causative bacteria appeared to be almost exclusively enteric, but now the list of bacteria isolated in cases of SBP looks like a bacteriology textbook. Anaerobes are rare. Multiple organisms usually suggest nonspontaneous origin such as perforation or vasopressin induction. The differentiation between spontaneous and nonspontaneous bacterial peritonitis is crucial in the differential diagnosis. The great majority of cases of SBP develop in the hospital, 80% more than one week after admission. It is therefore a nosocomial disease that may be precipitated by procedure-induced bacteremia, gastrointestinal bleeding, or diarrhea, and it tends to occur in patients with low ascitic fluid protein (complement) concentrations and severe portal-systemic shunting.
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PMID:Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis: variant syndromes. 368 33

This chapter reviews the disturbances of the serum sodium and potassium concentrations, acid-base imbalances, and acute renal dysfunction that are seen frequently in alcoholic patients. The hyponatremia common in decompensated cirrhotics is caused by an impairment of renal free water clearance and concomitant water ingestion. Excessive proximal renal tubular sodium reabsorption and nonosmotic vasopressin release underlie the defect in renal water excretion in cirrhosis. Restriction of water intake is the principal therapeutic measure for hyponatremia. Hypokalemia is common in alcoholics but when observed does not always represent true potassium depletion. Although most cirrhotics have a diminished total body potassium content, intracellular potassium concentration is usually normal. In some patients gastrointestinal and renal potassium losses and nutritional potassium deficiency may cause true potassium depletion. Respiratory and metabolic alkalosis are the acid-base disturbances seen most frequently in alcoholics. Acidosis is relatively uncommon and is usually due to renal insufficiency, lactic acid or keto-acid accumulation. Toxin ingestion (methanol, ethylene glycol, or isopropanol) may also cause severe acidosis. Rhabdomyolysis, common in severe alcoholism, may produce various electrolyte disturbances and acute renal failure. The prognosis for recovery is good although temporary dialysis may be necessary.
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PMID:Disorders of the serum electrolytes, acid-base balance, and renal function in alcoholism. 370 21

To assess the influence of vasopressin on splanchnic and renal circulatory changes induced by haemorrhage in portal hypertension, we studied 4 groups of 7 rats with chronic portal vein stenosis. Two groups received saline (C and H) and two groups vasopressin, 0.01 IU/kg/min (VP and VP-H). Ten minutes after starting drug infusion, group H and VP-H animals were allowed to bleed from the superior mesenteric vein. Both haemorrhage and vasopressin alone, decreased portal venous tributary blood flow and pressure but their association was not additive (as reflected by comparable bleeding rate in groups H and VP-H). By contrast, vasopressin increased renal perfusion in bleeding and non-bleeding animals whereas haemorrhage alone decreased renal perfusion. These results indicate that the effects of vasopressin on the splanchnic circulation in bleeding anaesthetized animals differ from the effects observed when blood volume is normal. Therefore, in patients with cirrhosis the effects of vasopressin during bleeding might also differ from those observed in patients in stable condition.
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PMID:Circulatory actions of vasopressin in anaesthetized rats with portal hypertension subjected to haemorrhage. 372 88

Although not demonstrated in patients with cirrhosis, it is generally claimed that administration of vasopressin in the form of triglycyl-lysine-vasopressin (glypressin) may prevent untoward systemic effects of this former hormone. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of intravenous administration of 2 mg of glypressin on splanchnic and systemic hemodynamics in 9 patients with cirrhosis under stable circulatory conditions. One hour after the injection, the following statistically significant changes were observed as compared to the baseline values (m +/- SEM): wedged hepatic venous pressure, -9 +/- 2 p. 100; hepatic venous pressure gradient, -16 +/- 3 p. 100; azygos blood flow, -24 +/- 6 p. 100; heart rate, -16 +/- 3 p. 100; cardiac index, -23 +/- 2 p. 100; systemic vascular resistances, +47 +/- 11 p. 100; wedged pulmonary arterial pressure, +44 +/- 15 p. 100. In conclusion, in patients with cirrhosis in a stable hemodynamic condition, intravenous administration of glypressin decreased portal venous pressure and blood flow into the superior portal systemic collateral circulation but did not prevent the untoward systemic hemodynamic effects of vasopressin.
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PMID:[Effects of glypressin on the splanchnic and systemic circulation in patients with cirrhosis]. 383 Aug 1

Blood flow in the azygos vein, an index of blood flow through gastro-oesophageal collaterals, was measured by continuous thermal dilution in 100 patients with cirrhosis. Azygos blood flow was directly related to portal pressure (r = 0.54, P less than 0.001). Patients with portal hypertension had very high azygos blood flow (692 +/- 32 ml/min) in comparison with controls (n = 11, 174 +/- 29 ml/min). Patients with previous oesophageal bleeding had similar azygos blood flow as those without, but azygos blood flow was significantly greater in patients with massive or recurrent bleeding than in those with less severe haemorrhage, suggesting that the magnitude of collateral flow may influence the course of variceal bleeding. Patients with grade III varices had higher azygos blood flow than those with grades II or I. In addition, both oesophageal tamponade and vasopressin infusion, procedures of known value in variceal bleeding, markedly reduced azygos blood flow (-40% and -25%, respectively). Measurement of azygos blood flow allows evaluation of haemodynamic changes in the oesophageal collaterals of patients with portal hypertension, and provides useful information on the effect of therapeutic procedures aimed at arresting or preventing variceal haemorrhage.
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PMID:Measurement of azygos venous blood flow in the evaluation of portal hypertension in patients with cirrhosis. Clinical and haemodynamic correlations in 100 patients. 387 13

The effects of somatostatin on hepatic and systemic hemodynamics were investigated in 17 patients with chronic liver disease and severe portal hypertension during the hemodynamic assessment before elective portal-systemic shunt surgery. The injection of somatostatin (1.0 microgram/kg) caused a decrease of the wedged hepatic venous pressure, from 19.5 +/- SE 1.3 mmHg to 14.0 +/- 1.0 mmHg (p < 0.001). Injections of 0.5 and 2.0 microgram/kg had similar effects. During somatostatin infusion at a constant rate (7.5 microgram/min) there was a reduction of the wedged hepatic venous pressure (-17.0%, p < 0.001) and estimated hepatic blood flow (-17.5%, p < 0.01) but no significant changes in hepatic vascular resistance, cardiac output, systemic blood pressure, peripheral resistance, or cardiopulmonary pressures. In marked contrast to the selective action of somatostatin on splanchnic hemodynamics, vasopressin infusion (0.3 U/min) in 6 patients caused not only significant falls in the wedged hepatic venous pressure and estimated hepatic blood flow (-28.6% and -31.8%, respectively), but also significant changes in the systemic circulation, including a reduction of the cardiac output (-19.7%, p < 0.01) and heart rate (-12.6%, p < 0.01) and an increase of the arterial pressure (+18.8%, p < 0.01) and peripheral resistance (+46.8%, p < 0.01). These results show that somatostatin effectively reduces hepatic blood flow and portal pressure in patients with cirrhosis and severe portal hypertension, without altering the systemic circulation.
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PMID:Effects of somatostatin on hepatic and systemic hemodynamics in patients with cirrhosis of the liver: comparison with vasopressin. 610 97

The effect of somatostatin on splanchnic hemodynamics was determined in 8 patients with cirrhosis of the liver and in 18 normal subjects using arterial-hepatic-venous catheterization. Estimated hepatic blood flow determined by indocyanine green infusion was 1.36 +/- 0.23 L/min (+/- SEM) in patients with cirrhosis and remained unaffected during 30 min of somatostatin (250 microgram/h) administration. Wedged hepatic venous pressure which was elevated to 23 +/- 1.8 mmHg was also uninfluenced. In contrast to somatostatin, an infusion of vasopressin (12 U/h for 30 min) given to the same patients, lowered estimated blood flow by 28% (p < 0.05) and wedged hepatic venous pressure by 18% (p < 0.02). Arterial gastrin and insulin levels were lowered during somatostatin infusion by 33% (p < 0.02) and by 75% (p < 0.005), respectively. In contrast to the cirrhosis, infusion of 250 microgram/h somatostatin into normal subjects was associated with a decrease of estimated hepatic blood flow from 1.20 +/- 0.16 to 0.88 +/- 0.12 L/min (p < 0.01) representing a 27% decline. Arterial gastrin and insulin concentrations were lower (p < 0.01) than in cirrhosis, but the basal levels were lowered by somatostatin to a similar degree in both groups of patients. A higher dose of somatostatin (500 microgram/h) administered to normal subjects resulted in a similar decrease of gastrin and of estimated hepatic blood flow as that seen with 250 microgram/h, whereas a lower dose (125 microgram/h) decreased gastrin but failed to influence estimated hepatic blood flow. Thus, somatostatin at a dose which has been used in the treatment of acute peptic ulcer hemorrhage (250 microgram/h) failed to influence estimated hepatic blood flow and wegded hepatic venous pressure in patients with cirrhosis but lowered splanchnic blood flow in normal subjects. Assuming that this effect contributes to somatostatin's therapeutic efficacy, these results cast doubt on its potential value in the treatment of upper gastrointestinal bleeding of cirrhotics with portal hypertension.
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PMID:Effect of somatostatin on splanchnic hemodynamics in patients with cirrhosis of the liver and in normal subjects. 610 98

The effects of somatostatin and vasopressin on blood gases, pulmonary and systemic hemodynamics, and portal pressure assessed by the gradient between occluded and free hepatic vein pressures, were investigated in 18 patients with liver cirrhosis. In the first 10 patients, an iv bolus of 250 microgram somatostatin, followed by an infusion of 125 microgram somatostatin over 30 min, caused a sudden rise in pulmonary and systemic vascular pressures lasting 2 to 5 min and accompanied by bradycardia. There was a slight and transient increase in venous admixture (Qsp/Qt) and alveolar-arterial oxygen tension gradients (P(A-a)O2), and a transient reduction in O2 delivery (O2 del) (-11% of the baseline values) and portal pressures (-14%). In the next 8 patients, vasopressin, 0.4 U/min infused over 30 min, caused a more persistent pulmonary and systemic hypertension and bradycardia, a slight increase in P(A.a)O2 and Qsp/Qt, a reduction in O2 del (-27%) and a decrease in portal pressures (-32%). These effects were marked during the entire vasopressin infusion period. Both somatostatin and vasopressin had vasoconstrictive properties and exerted negative effects on hemodynamics and blood gases. Vasopressin appeared to be a more potent drug than somatostatin.
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PMID:Effect of vasopressin and somatostatin on hemodynamics and blood gases in patients with liver cirrhosis. 612 42

As medical treatment of haemorrhage from esophageal varices vasopressin is discussed. The analogue triglycyl-vasopressin has less side-effects and a longer plasma half-life. According to the first randomized study with only a small number of patients bleeding from varices triglycyl-vasopressin was superior to vasopressin. The efficacy of somatostatin to reduce splanchnic blood flow in patients with liver cirrhosis is controversial. In a placebo-controlled trial propranolol prevented rebleeding from varices in patients with cirrhosis. However, beta-blockers should not be given to patients with advanced cirrhosis. Several controlled studies prove cimetidine not to be effective in ulcer bleeding. Somatostatin and secretin could be candidates for pharmacotherapy of haemorrhage from ulcers and erosions. In an own randomized and multicenter trial on 100 patients with stopped ulcer bleeding it was proven that the combination of the synergistically acting receptor antagonists cimetidine and pirenzepine prevent rebleeding significantly better than a prophylactic treatment of either cimetidine or pirenzepine alone. An improvement of mortality rates of upper gastrointestinal bleeding seems also to be possible by using such a combined prophylaxis. As prophylaxis of stress-ulcer bleeding cimetidine - recently ranitidine, too - and antacids are applied. Instead of a widely used enhancement of the doses of H2-blockers a combined application of H2-receptor antagonists and pirenzepine is also recommended in this indication which offers theoretical and practical advantages.
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PMID:[Drug therapy and prevention of acute upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage]. 613 16

In 20 patients with g hepatic cirrhosis hospitalized for upper digestive haemorrhage by rupture of oesophageal varices, the intragastric administration of norartrinal in amounts of 4-40 mg/24 h achieved definitive haemostasis in 7 cases and temporary haemostasis (with prolonged survival) in another 6 cases. The overall mortality was 80%. In three of the 7 patients in which haemorrhage was completely arrested death occurred as a result of hepatic failure. The large amounts of Norartrinal administered (up to 120 mg total dose) were well tolerated and did not have haemodynamic side-effects, or renal side-effects. The results obtained, and especially the easy method used for administration of the drug recommend this method as an alternative of the vasopressin treatment.
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PMID:[Intragastric administration of norartrinal in hemorrhage caused by rupture of esophageal varices]. 621 26


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