Biomedical subjects

A Alvarez-Prechous

Publications and source records attributed to A Alvarez-Prechous.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1992

Genetic markers in alcoholic liver cirrhosis.

11 genetic markers were typed in 157 individuals suffering from alcoholic cirrhosis, and compared with a random sample of healthy individuals. No significant differences were found for transferrin, specific group component, orosomucoid, esterase D, phosphogluconate dehydrogenase and adenylate kinase. Strong associations between alcoholic cirrhosis and alpha-1-antitrypsin PI*Z allele, haptoglobin HP*1 allele and acid phosphatase ACP AC phenotype were observed. The biological significance of these associations and their relationships with the development of alcoholic cirrhosis are also discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

Free carnitine and acylcarnitine levels in sera of alcoholics.

We report the free, acyl-, and total carnitine contents of 49 clinically healthy volunteers and 167 chronic alcoholics with various clinically and/or anatomopathologically identified degrees of hepatic affection. There was a gradual upward trend in carnitine levels as the degree of hepatic affection increased. In cirrhotic patients, both free and acylcarnitine levels were significantly higher than normal, but there was no systematic hypercarnitinemia in other stages of alcoholism; on the contrary, noncirrhotic alcoholic patients accounted for 82.6% of all hypocarnitinemia cases. Hypercarnitinemia among cirrhotic alcoholics was due chiefly to increased free carnitine concentrations. Acylcarnitine levels in patients with hepatic steatosis were significantly higher than those in normal subjects (P less than 0.001), but there were no other statistically significant differences in either acyl- or free carnitine levels between normals on the one hand and, on the other, patients with hepatic steatosis, alcoholic hepatitis, slight hepatopathy, or chronic hepatopathy without portal hypertension.

Acetylcarnitine↗

PubMed1988

Urinary D-glucaric acid and serum hepatic enzyme levels in chronic alcoholics.

Urinary D-glucaric acid (DGA) and the activities of gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) and other hepatic enzymes in serum were determined in 33 noncirrhotic male alcoholics who had continued to consume alcohol until at least 24 h prior to the taking of samples. DGA excretion was significantly greater in them than in a group of 30 healthy controls (p less than 0.001), exceeding the upper reference level in 38% of the alcoholic cases (as compared with 88% for GGT). In the alcoholic patients, there was highly significant correlation between urinary DGA and serum GGT (r = 0.613, p less than 0.001), suggesting that in both cases the increased levels are due to enzyme induction. None of the biochemical variables studied were significantly correlated with estimated daily alcohol consumption. Urinary DGA levels fell off rapidly with abstinence, and in 31 alcoholic patients who had consumed no alcohol for 5 days, there was no statistically significant correlation between DGA excretion and serum GGT (r = 0.158, p congruent to 0.4).

Adult↗

PubMed1980

[Behçet's disease: report of ten cases and of a new clinical manifestation (portal vein thrombosis) (author's transl)].

Ten patients (seven males and three females) with the diagnostic criteria for Behçet's disease are reported. Symptoms began between ages 14 and 37 (mean age 27.9 years), and the time of evolution of the disease varied between one and 23 years (mean 5.7 years). Initial presentation was aphthous stomatitis (three cases), ocular inflammation (three cases), erythema nodosum (one case), arthritis (one case), thrombophlebitis (one case), and hemorrhagic proctocolitis (one case). During the course of the disease the commonest clinical manifestations were oral and genital ulcerations (100%) and ocular (70%), cutaneous (70%), articular (40%), neurological (40%), venous (40%), gastrointestinal (40%) and arterial (10%) involvement. Increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate was a constant feature in all patients. HLA-B5 antigen was determined in four patients, being positive in two of them. Cerebrospinal fluid alterations were present in the four patients with neurological involvement even though three of them never had meningeal symptoms. One patient developed portal hypertension secondary to portal vein thrombosis, and its clinical manifestations are described.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1976