Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P02794 (ferritin)
 17,525 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Fifty-two patients on regular haemodialysis at our institution were evaluated for the presence of HCV infection. Evaluation included detailed history, clinical examination, and monthly screening for anti-HCV antibody, liver enzymes (ALT, AST), serum iron and ferritin. Also, three-monthly screening for other viral markers, HBV (HBsAg, HBsAb, HBcAb), CMV (IgG and IgM), EBV, and HIV. Anti-HCV antibody was found in 21 patients (40.4%). There was a significant (P less than 0.05) relationship between presence of anti-HCV antibody and proportion of patients who received blood transfusion. During a 12-month follow-up, four (11.4%) patients seroconverted to be Anti-HCV positive while one case (4.8%) seroconverted to be anti-HCV negative. The frequency of elevation of liver enzymes was significantly higher in Anti-HCV positive cases (14/18) than in negative cases (11/28, P = 0.01). Evaluation of liver biopsies of 13 patients showed chronic persistent hepatitis in six and chronic active hepatitis in seven cases. We concluded that hepatitis C is a common problem among chronic haemodialysis patients at our institution; HCV infection is documented in 70% of all clinically diagnosed NANB hepatitis. Presence of anti-HCV antibodies cannot differentiate between active and past infection and cases with early HCV infection can be missed when relying on the mere detection of anti-HCV antibodies.
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PMID:Hepatitis C virus infection in chronic haemodialysis patients, a clinicopathologic study. 128 48

In patients with thalassemia intermedia in whom hyperabsorption of iron may result in serious organ dysfunction, an orally effective iron-chelating drug would have major therapeutic advantages, especially for the many patients with thalassemia intermedia in the Third World. We report reduction in tissue iron stores and normalization of serum ferritin concentration after 9-month therapy with the oral chelator 1,2-dimethyl-3-hydroxypyrid-4-one (L1) in a 29-year-old man with thalassemia intermedia and clinically significant iron overload (SF 2,174 micrograms/L, transferrin saturation 100%; elevated AST and ALT, abnormal cardiac radionuclide angiogram) who was enrolled in the study with L1 75 mg/kg/day after he refused deferoxamine therapy. L1-Induced 24-hour urinary iron excretion during the first 6 months of therapy was (mean +/- SD, range) 53 +/- 30 (11 to 109) mg (0.77 mg/kg), declining during the last 3 months of L1 to 24 +/- 14 (13-40) mg (0.36 mg/kg), as serum ferritin decreased steadily to normal range (present value, 251 micrograms/L). Dramatic improvement in signal intensity of the liver and mild improvement in that of the heart was shown by comparison of T1-weighted spin echo magnetic resonance imaging with images obtained immediately before L1 administration was observed after 9 months of L1 therapy. Hepatic iron concentration decreased from 14.6 mg/g dry weight of liver before L1 therapy to 1.9 mg/g liver after 9 months of therapy. This constitutes the first report of normalization of serum ferritin concentration in parallel with demonstrated reduction in tissue iron stores as a result of treatment with L1. Use of L1 as a therapeutic option in patients with thalassemia intermedia and iron overload appears warranted.
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PMID:Reduction of tissue iron stores and normalization of serum ferritin during treatment with the oral iron chelator L1 in thalassemia intermedia. 158 21

This study was performed to investigate modifications in the serum bilirubin forms, hepatobiliary enzymes, and some glycoproteic substances in patients during the course of extrahepatic cholestasis (stage A) and following its clinical resolution (stage B). The series consisted of 16 patients: 11 had main bile duct stones; two, benign stenosis of the main bile duct; and three, main bile duct cancer. Cholestasis resolved spontaneously in one case, under endoscopy in two, and following surgery in 13. Five patients with liver cirrhosis and a picture of intrahepatic cholestasis following anesthesia were also investigated. Serum bilirubin forms were measured using van den Bergh's method and the alkaline methanolysis-HPLC procedure; the mono- and di-conjugated forms were considered together in the overall evaluation of the results. The hepatobiliary enzymes (ALP, GGT, and AST) were increased at stage A and significantly decreased at stage B. Similar patterns were observed in total (TB), unconjugated (UB), and conjugated bilirubin (CB) and in the percentage of CB out of TB (% CB). In the majority of patients, % CB at stage B was lower than at stage A, whereas in subjects with a high initial UB value, a different % CB pattern was observed. The direct bilirubin percentage (% DB), on the other hand, had a different pattern, and the variations between stages A and B were not significant. The pathophysiological bilirubin pattern was similar in patients with intrahepatic cholestasis. At stage A, in a number of patients the levels of glycoproteic substances (CA 19-9, TPA and ferritin) were raised, but at stage B they tended to decrease towards the normal range.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Alterations in bilirubin metabolism during extra- and intrahepatic cholestasis. 160 Mar 31

Three hundred and seventy-three female and 213 male nonalcoholic subjects, aged 60-100 y, who had participated in a nutritional status survey of elderly people in the Boston area were grouped according to usual alcohol intake: 0-4, 5-14, or 15+ g/d. The age- and sex-adjusted mean intake of calories, fat, protein, carbohydrate, and 10 micronutrients and the mean levels of 14 nutrient and 22 nonnutrient biochemical indices were compared for the three categories of alcohol intake. The mean micronutrient intakes were also adjusted for total caloric intake and the mean nutrient biochemical concentrations were also adjusted for the corresponding nutrient intakes. The results suggest that caloric intake and blood concentrations of retinol, iron, ferritin, HDL cholesterol, AST, and ALT increased with increasing alcohol intake whereas folate and phosphorus intakes and blood measures of riboflavin, copper, zinc, urea nitrogen, and creatinine decreased with increasing alcohol intake.
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PMID:Moderate alcohol intake and nutritional status in nonalcoholic elderly subjects. 280 94

Blood concentrations of six acute phase reactants (ESR, neutrophil count, fibrinogen, haptoglobin, alpha 1-antitrypsin, and ferritin), parameters of muscle necrosis (myoglobin, CK, ALT, and AST) as well as hemopexin, iron, and TIBC were determined before and for 7 consecutive days after muscle biopsy in patients and in a control group. A muscle biopsy was chosen as a standardized surgical procedure that induces a mild transient inflammatory response. After muscle biopsy, a significant increase occurred in five (ESR, neutrophil count, fibrinogen, haptoglobin, and alpha 1-antitrypsin) of the six acute phase reactants. The concentration of serum ferritin did not show a significant change. A significant decrease was noted in the serum iron concentration and a significant increase occurred with CK and myoglobin secondary to the muscle biopsy. Thus the inflammation of a muscle biopsy produces a significant acute phase reaction.
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PMID:Quantification of acute phase reactants after muscle biopsy. 711 53

The transverse relaxation time of water protons is shortened by the presence of iron. This shortening depends on the amount and the environment of iron in the sample. We have developed a method for measuring short transverse relaxation time noninvasively by magnetic resonance spectroscopy. To evaluate magnetic resonance spectroscopy as a means of assessing hepatic iron content in patients with transfusional iron overload, we compared the results obtained with this method with those obtained by other means of assessing total body iron content. The correlation between the liver biopsy iron concentration and 1/transverse relaxation time was highly significant (r = 0.95, p < 0.004, n = 6) for iron loads up to 3% dry weight. The correlation between serum ferritin and 1/transverse relaxation time was also significant, but the correlation coefficient was much lower (r = 0.67, p < 0.002, n = 20). The correlation between 24-hr urinary iron excretion and 1/transverse relaxation time was not significant, nor was that between AST and 1/transverse relaxation time. We conclude that magnetic resonance spectroscopic determination of the transverse relaxation time of hepatic water is an accurate method of measuring liver iron content, especially when the iron content is below 3%. Because it is a noninvasive method that is associated with negligible side effects, it could provide clinicians with an excellent means of assessing the effectiveness of the various therapeutic strategies used in the management of patients with iron overload.
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PMID:Assessment of hepatic iron overload in thalassemic patients by magnetic resonance spectroscopy. 813 64

Eight transfusion dependent patients (3 women and 5 men) with thalassemia major undergoing long-term treatment with Desferoxamine were submitted to MRI, with T2* GE sequences and low field strength. The ratio between liver mean signal intensity and skeletal muscle (L/M) and the ratio between the former and subcutaneous fat (L/F) were calculated in all patients. The results were compared with those of a control group of 7 healthy volunteers (7 men). L/M and L/F ratios were separately correlated with the following parameters: patient's age, transfusion history, serum ferritin, ferritin peak and its onset, transaminases (AST and ALT) and chelation index. The latter is a complex parameter allowing the actual assessment of iron content and of the real efficacy of chelation therapy. In all patients, both the L/M and the L/F ratios decreased significantly (L/M ratio: 0.67 +/- 0.45 vs. 1.2 +/- 0.21, p < 0.02; L/F ratio: 0.39 +/- 0.15 vs. 0.84 +/- 0.11, p < 0.001) relative to the control group. No significant correlation was found between the ratios and any hematochemical parameter, except for r = 0.77 (p < 0.04) between L/F ratio and the chelation index. Our study demonstrates that MRI may play a major role in the examination of thalassemic patients even at low field strength and with GE sequences, which yield good quality images with a relatively short acquisition time. Thus, MRI can be suggested for routine liver studies thanks to its high quality depiction of the liver and to its qualitative and semiquantitative yield. The good correlation between L/F ratio and the chelation index permits MR evaluation of the efficacy of different chelation treatments.
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PMID:[Iron accumulation in the liver of patients with thalassemia major assessed with low field strength magnetic resonance: correlation with clinico-instrumental parameters]. 883 Mar 63

In order to evaluate the pathogenetic role of iron in Porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT), the metabolism of iron was studied in 440 patient with PCT and associated chronic liver disease (CLD) and in 91 nonporphyric CLD patients (used as a control group). The parameters considered were the following: serum iron, ferritin, Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC) and percent saturation of transferrin. The statistical analysis showed that the differences between the means, in the two groups, were not significant in any of the parameters examined. To investigate the possible relationships between iron metabolism and other chemico-clinical parameters concerning the porphyric disease, the associated hepatic disease and hemometry, we studied the correlations between iron parameters and total urinary and serum porphyrins, serum copper, serum albumin, hemoglobin, red blood cells, ALT, AST, CHE and GLDH. This investigation was only possible in the last 99 cases. In addition to the obvious correlations between the parameters concerning iron metabolism, the highly significant (p < 0.001) correlation between ferritin and enzyme activities which indicate cytolysis (ALT, AST, GLDH) is extremely interesting. The results seem to point to the tentative conclusion that the alterations of iron metabolism are more related to the hepatocellular necrosis than to the metabolism of porphyrins.
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PMID:Iron and porphyria cutanea tarda. 907 91

Treatment of chronic hepatitis C with alfa interferon for 6 months achieves sustained responses in 15-25% of the patients. The initial induction with higher doses and the prolongation of treatment can improve the results. A randomized, prospective study was carried out to compare the efficacy of a short term induction schedule of interferon alfa-2b (group A) versus a long term one (group B). 106 patients with chronic hepatitis C were included: 54 received 5 megaunits tiw for 8 weeks and 52 for 16 weeks; afterwards, interferon was reduced to 3 megaunits up to 9 months. The percentage of sustained responses, transient responses and non responses were 18.5%, 24% and 57.4% in group A and 23.1%, 28.8% and 48.1% in group B (NS). The following factors were related to a poor response in the univariate analysis: an increase of serum iron levels, ferritin, Gamma-GT and bilirubin, anti-nuclear antibody positivity, presumed non-parenteral infection, an AST/ALT ratio greater than 0.75, a higher Knodell's index and a greater necrosis and fibrosis score. The multivariate analysis revealed that elevated serum iron and ferritin and anti-nuclear antibody positivity had an independent predictive value related to a non response. Our results appear to suggest that an induction with higher doses and the treatment over nine months are more efficient than the classic schedule. The prolongation of the induction period does not provide additional advantages.
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PMID:A comparison between two induction regimes for the interferon treatment of chronic hepatitis C. Response related factors. 914 98

Pruritus is a common symptom of chronic cholestatic liver diseases but is considered rare in chronic hepatitis. We observed pruritus to be an unusually common complaint in patients with advanced chronic hepatitis C. We reviewed the records of 175 chronic hepatitis C patients to identify patients with severe, diffuse, unexplained pruritus; 12 consecutive prospective patients undergoing liver biopsy for chronic hepatitis C served as controls. Assessment included laboratory biochemical tests and assessment of liver pathology by stage, grade, hepatic activity index, and a bile duct score. Pruritus was present in nine (5.1%) patients. Serum AST, ALT, alkaline phosphatase, GGTP, total bilirubin, and ferritin were similar in pruritics and controls. Pruritics had higher serum bile acids (2028.4 +/- 223.1 mmol/liter vs 423.1 +/- 194.3, P < 0.001), higher transferrin saturation (57.5 +/- 6.8% vs 33.2 +/- 3.3, P < 0.01), and lower HCV RNA by bDNA (24.5 +/- 12.7 x 10(5) vs 172.7 +/- 54.1 x 10(5), P < 0.05). Pathology revealed cirrhosis in 6/9 (66.6%) pruritics vs 1/12 (8.3%) controls (P < 0.01). Pruritics had higher pathologic stage (3.7 +/- 0.2 vs 2.2 +/- 0.4, P < 0.01), grade (4.4 +/- 0.2 vs 2.1 +/- 0.2, P < 0.001), activity index (14.3 +/- 1.9 vs 8.6 +/- 1.9, P < 0.025), and bile duct score (7.6 +/- 0.6 vs 4.7 +/- 0.4, P < 0.01). Of eight pruritics treated with IFN-alpha2b, two had complete ALT response and one relapsed. Pruritus followed a relapsing course and only three patients partially responded despite a variety of interventions. In conclusion, pruritus is a common complication of advanced CHC. Its presence is associated with high serum bile acids, advanced pathology and bile duct abnormalities. The clinical course of pruritus is relapsing and response to therapy is inconsistent. These features suggest that pruritus in CHC has a pathogenesis that may vary from that of chronic cholestatic diseases.
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PMID:Pruritus in chronic hepatitis C: association with high serum bile acids, advanced pathology, and bile duct abnormalities. 914 69


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