To study the effect of chronic alcohol consumption on hepatic levels of thyroid hormones, female Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 24) were pair-fed nutritionally adequate liquid diets containing either ethanol (36% of total calories) or isocaloric carbohydrates for 21 days. Compared to controls, chronic alcohol consumption failed to result in a significant change of hepatic thyroid hormone levels (thyroxine: 14.7 +/- 1.81 ng per gm of liver wet weight vs. 15.0 +/- 1.59; triiodothyronine: 2.60 +/- 0.16 ng per gm of liver wet weight vs. 2.66 +/- 0.18). Similar results were obtained when the hepatic levels of thyroid hormones were expressed per total liver, per gram of liver protein or per 100 gm of body weight. Moreover, prolonged alcohol ingestion led to a significant reduction of serum total thyroxine by 31.6% (p less than 0.001), free thyroxine by 38.9% (p less than 0.02), total triiodothyronine by 40.2% (p less than 0.001) and free triiodothyronine by 56.1% (p less than 0.001) when compared to their pair-fed controls, whereas thyroid-stimulating hormone levels remained virtually unchanged. These data, therefore, clearly show that chronic alcohol consumption is incapable of creating a hyperthyroid hepatic state in rats, and limit the rationale for antithyroid treatment in patients with alcoholic liver disease.

Alcoholism↗

PubMedDate not supplied

(+)-Cyanidanol-3 in the treatment of acute viral hepatitis: a randomized controlled trial.

One-hundred sixty patients (81 cyanidanol, 79 placebo) were included in a double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial to evaluate the effect of 3 gm (+)-cyanidanol-3 per day for 8 weeks on the clinical course of acute viral hepatitis and HBsAg elimination. Quantitative determination of HBsAg was performed at frequent intervals. The mean time for serum bilirubin to decrease to 1.3 mg per dl was 30.8 +/- 3.5 days in the treated group and 52.2 +/- 9.8 days in the control group, (p less than 0.025). The time for SGOT to decrease to 100 IU per liter was 17.98 +/- 1.82 in the treated group and 26.53 +/- 3.7 in the control group (p less than 0.025). No significant difference in the evolution of other laboratory values or symptoms was found. The elimination rate of HBsAg was identical in both groups. Treatment did not alter the incidence of chronicity.

Acute Disease↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Androgen and estrogen response to adrenal and gonadal stimulation in idiopathic hemochromatosis: evidence for decreased estrogen formation.

Gonadal function in idiopathic hemochromatosis (IHC) was evaluated by comparing clinical features and levels of sex hormones in 10 male patients with IHC (cirrhosis, 4; fibrosis, 6), 6 male patients with alcoholic cirrhosis (AC) and 10 healthy, age-matched controls. Impotence was present in 9 IHC and all AC patients and was associated with decreased plasma testosterone levels. However, gynecomastia, a feature in all patients with AC, was not present in IHC, and plasma sex hormone binding globulin was normal. Patients with IHC showed significantly lower basal estradiol levels (17.7 +/- 6.3 pg per ml) than did controls (28.5 +/- 8.5 pg per ml), and low LH levels (p less than 0.01), which were insufficiently stimulated by luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (n = 8) as well as a decrease in prolactin concentration (2.9 +/- 1.4 vs. 5.9 +/- 1.9 ng per ml in the controls) suggesting pituitary failure. Synthesizing capacity of sex hormones was determined by adrenocorticotropic hormone and human chorionic gonadotropin administration. Basal and stimulated levels of androstenedione and cortisol indicated normal function of the adrenals in IHC. However after adrenocorticotropic hormone, estrone levels increased to only 16.2 +/- 8.4 pg per ml (controls, 27.3 +/- 4.7 pg per ml; p less than 0.01). Increments of estrone (12.5 +/- 9.2 pg per ml) and estradiol (17.9 +/- 11.6 pg per ml) were also lower in IHC following human chorionic gonadotropin administration than in controls (26.0 +/- 7.2 and 37.5 +/- 11.4 pg per ml, respectively). In contrast, plasma human chorionic gonadotropin raised testosterone levels 3.3-fold in IHC and 2.2-fold in controls.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adrenal Cortex Function Tests↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Total parenteral nutrition in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease].

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Colitis, Ulcerative↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Endoscopic and histological findings in the upper gastrointestinal tract of patients with Crohn's disease].

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Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Drug-induced fluorosis].

Report of a 58 year old patient who, after a 5 year continuous treatment with altogether 146 g sodium fluoride, developed a grade II-III (Roholm) fluorosis. The fluorine treatment had been conducted for a radiologically demonstrated osteoporosis. Renal involvement was not demonstrated: serum creatinine was normal, the creatinine clearance only slightly reduced. The therapeutic goal of this continuous fluoride administration, i.e. freedom from skeletal pain and vertebral stability, was not achieved; new end plate impressions of dorsal vertebrae were found.

Dose-Response Relationship, Drug↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The diagnostic value of multi-modality evoked potentials in Wilson's disease.

19 patients with a neurological manifestation of Wilson's disease (WD), most of them with long-term disease (> 10 yr), underwent clinical, psychometrical and electrophysiological evaluation in order to test whether there is a correlation of psychometrical and evoked potential (EP) abnormalities with a semiquantitative clinical score ranging from no (0) to severe (3) symptoms. The following EPs were recorded: acoustically evoked event-related (ERPs), somato-sensory (SSEPs), visually (VEPs) and brainstem evoked potentials (BSEPs). Results were compared with the data of an age- and sex-matched control group. 89% of the patients revealed clinical signs of basal ganglia dysfunction, 11% oculomotor or cerebellar symptoms, but none of the individuals had any clinical hint for visual pathway affection. Psychometrically, 100% had mood disturbances without definite intellectual decline. In EP-recordings, 100% showed ERP, 58.0% SSEP and 53% VEP and BSEP abnormalities. VEP and BSEP measurements did not correlate with the clinical score. There was only a weak correlation of SSEP (right-side)- and ERP-amplitude reduction with the clinical total score. The only significant correlation was found between the clinical total score and the time dependent psychometrical tests. Thus, there is a fairly high percentage of subclinical cerebral impairment in Wilson patients with long-term disease detectable by ERP-recordings which do, however, not correlate with the clinical status of the patients.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Antiproliferative effect of tyrosine kinase inhibitors in epidermal growth factor-stimulated growth of human gastric cancer cells.

AGS human gastric cancer cells were characterized to possess EGF receptors. Scatchard analysis revealed a half saturation constant of 0.6 nM and 9000 receptors per cell. Exogenously added EGF stimulated gastric cancer cell growth in a dose-dependent manner with a maximum effect of +38% at 10 nM EGF. Inhibition of the EGFR-associated tyrosine kinase by genistein and the tyrphostins RG-13022, RG-14620 and RG-50864 resulted in a dose-dependent growth inhibition with half maximal inhibition at 10 microM, 7 microM and 23 microM, respectively. EGF mediated growth stimulation was dose-dependently reversed by coincubation with genistein. At genistein concentrations exceeding 6 microM serum-stimulated growth of AGS cancer cells was also inhibited. We conclude that EGF is an important growth factor for AGS gastric cancer cells. Inhibition of the EGFR-associated tyrosine kinase seems to be an effective antiproliferative principle in EGFR-positive human gastric cancer cells.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Polyunsaturated phosphatidyl-choline and interferon alpha for treatment of chronic hepatitis B and C: a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Leich Study Group.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Polyunsaturated phospatidyl-choline (PPC) has been shown to reduce serum aminotransferases in experimental hepatitis. This multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial evaluated the effects of PPC in patients with chronic hepatitis B and C in combination with interferon alpha 2a or 2b. The diagnosis of chronic viral hepatitis was based on an abnormal serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) value (more than twice the upper value of normal), viral replication and chronic hepatitis found on liver biopsy. METHODOLOGY: Patients received 5 million I.U. (Hepatitis B) and 3 million I.U. (hepatitis C) interferon s.c. thrice weekly for 24 weeks, respectively, and were randomly assigned to additional oral medication with either 6 capsules of PPC (total daily dose: 1.8 g) or 6 capsules of placebo per day for 24 weeks. Biochemical response to therapy was defined as a reduction of ALT by more than 50% of pre-treatment values. The responders were treated for further 24 weeks after cessation of interferon therapy with either PPC or placebo. RESULTS: 176 patients completed the study protocol (per-protocol population: 92 in the PPC and 84 in the placebo group). A biochemical response (> 50% ALT reduction) was seen in 71% of patients who were treated with PPC, but only in 56% of patients who received placebo (p < 0.05). PPC increased the response rate in particular in patients with hepatitis C: 71% of those patients responded in the PPC group versus 51% in the placebo group (p < 0.05). Prolonged PPC therapy given to responders beyond the cessation of interferon therapy tended to increase the rate of sustained responders at week 48 in patients with hepatitis C (41% versus 15% in the control group; p = 0.064). In contrast, PPC did not alter the biochemical response to interferon in patients with hepatitis B. PPC did not accelerate elimination of HBV-DNA, HBeAg and HCV-RNA. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, PPC may be recommended in patients with chronic hepatitis C in combination with interferon and after termination of interferon in order to reduce the high relapse rate. PPC may not be recommended for patients with chronic hepatitis B. In contrast to IFN and other antiviral agents PPC does not carry major risks and is tolerated very well.

Adult↗