Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M Salaspuro

Publications and source records attributed to M Salaspuro.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

Effects of omeprazole in duodenal ulcer patients.

The efficacy of and tolerance to omeprazole, 40 mg/day, was studied in an open-label study in 18 patients with endoscopically verified duodenal ulcers. The effects of the drug on the oxyntic mucosa and pentagastrin-stimulated acid secretion during and after treatment were also studied. Fifteen patients completed the final endoscopy. The ulcers were healed in all after 4 weeks' treatment. Both basal and peak acid output were significantly reduced during omeprazole treatment, whereas 4 weeks after the cessation of treatment neither basal nor peak acid output differed from the pretreatment levels. Fasting serum gastrin levels rose by 56% during treatment but had returned to pretreatment values when tested again 4 weeks after the end of the treatment period. Histological examination of the biopsy specimens taken before and after treatment showed that omeprazole had no significant effect on the volume densities of either parietal or endocrine cells. We conclude that omeprazole is of value in the treatment of duodenal ulcer and that the effects of the drug on acid output and serum gastrin levels are fully reversible.

Adult↗

Plasma histamine and serum pepsinogen I concentrations in chronic myelogenous leukaemia.

A male patient with multiple gastroduodenal ulcers and gastric hypersecretion due to hyperhistaminaemia associated with extreme basophilia occurring in chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML) is described. In addition, plasma histamine levels and serum pepsinogen I concentrations, reflecting gastric acid secretion, were studied in 18 CML patients. As compared to controls, plasma histamine levels were clearly increased in CML patients and correlated well with the basophil count. Serum pepsinogen I concentrations were normal in 14 out of 17 cases and did not correlate with plasma histamine levels. This absence of a direct relation between plasma histamine concentrations and serum pepsinogen I levels suggests that a high concentration of circulating histamine does not inevitably lead to increased gastric acid secretion. This offers one explanation of the fact that, in spite of the frequent occurrence of basophilia and hyperhistaminaemia in CML, ulcerogenic diathesis is quite rare in this disease and complicates only cases with extreme basophilia.

Adult↗

Adrenergic innervation of the human liver. A fluorescence histochemical analysis of clinical liver biopsy specimens.

Liver biopsy specimens from 34 consecutive patients undergoing laparoscopy were processed for glyoxylic acid-induced fluorescence histochemical analysis. Most of the adrenergic nerves were located in the interlobular spaces and confined to blood vessels; no direct functional adrenergic innervation of the hepatocytes could be demonstrated. In eight cases of intrahepatic cholestasis, however, fluorescing varicose adrenergic axons were observed in patchy areas of accumulations of bile pigments. Otherwise the results were analogous in histologically normal liver tissue and in liver disease regardless of the underlying pathology. Methodological difficulties may explain some earlier contradictory results.

Adrenergic Fibers↗

Profiles of antinuclear antibodies in chronic active hepatitis, primary biliary cirrhosis and alcoholic liver disease.

The profiles of specific antinuclear antibodies were determined in sera from 23 patients with the idiopathic type of chronic active hepatitis (CAH), 15 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and 25 patients with alcoholic liver disease (ALD). The indirect immunofluorescence test for antinuclear antibodies using cultured human embryonic fibroblasts as substrate was positive in 78% in CAH, in 73% in PBC and in 24% in ALD. Seventeen percent of CAH sera and 33% of PBC sera stained small speckles in interphase nuclei. This staining pattern probably represents a new subset of ANA as the centromeres (kinetochores) were not stained. Antibodies to native DNA by the Crithidia luciliae test were found in only one serum from a patient with CAH. In addition, 17 percent of the CAH sera reacted with the saline extract of rabbit thymus by double immunodiffusion. Antibodies to the Sm- or RNP-antigens were not found. SS-B antibodies could be demonstrated in 39% of the CAH sera by a sensitive immunoenzymatic technique. Patients with CAH also had significantly higher levels of antibodies against denatured, single-stranded DNA (ss-DNA) and a synthetic RNA molecule, poly(A) as compared to other groups. Patients with an atypical cholestatic CAH had an antinuclear-antibody profile resembling that of the other CAH patients, but different from that of PBC patients. Patients with alcoholic cirrhosis had significantly higher levels of ss-DNA- and poly(A)-antibodies than other patients with ALD. It is concluded that the determination of an antinuclear-antibody profile using the ELISA seems to be clinically useful in the classification of chronic liver diseases.

Adult↗

Sex hormones in amenorrheic women with alcoholic liver disease.

Urinary excretion of estrogens and plasma concentrations of estrone, estradiol, LH, FSH, PRL, progesterone, testosterone, and sex hormone binding globulin were measured in nine chronic alcoholic women with cirrhosis or alcoholic fatty liver. They were aged 24-40 yr and all had secondary amenorrhea which had lasted for at least 3 months. The response of pituitary gonadotropin secretion to administration of LHRH and estradiol benzoate and of PRL secretion to TRH were also investigated. Urinary excretion of estrogens in the alcoholic women with liver disease was similar to that in normal postmenopausal women and less than half that in normal women of the same age in the midfollicular phase of the menstrual cycle. Plasma estradiol levels in the alcoholic women were lower than in the menstruating women but higher than in the postmenopausal women, whereas their plasma estrone levels were higher than in the menstruating women. Plasma concentrations of progesterone and testosterone in the alcoholic women did not differ from those in the postmenopausal women but were lower than in the menstruating women. In spite of the relative estrogen deficiency plasma LH and FSH levels were not elevated in the alcoholic women. The responses of LH and FSH to LHRH were similar in the patients and in the menstruating women. Intramuscular administration of estradiol benzoate did not increase plasma LH and FSH concentrations in the alcoholic women. Hyperprolactinemia was not found and there were no differences in the PRL responses to TRH between the patients and the control groups. In conclusion, disturbed regulation of gonadotropin secretion is an important factor in the genesis of estrogen deficiency and amenorrhea in alcoholic women with liver disease, although ovarian function may also be directly impaired.

Adult↗

Gastrin-producing ovarian mucinous cystadenoma.

We report a patient with abdominal pain, diarrhea, and edema of the small intestine all of which disappeared after resection of an ovarian mucinous cystadenoma of borderline malignancy. Preoperatively, the serum gastrin level was high and it decreased to normal afterwards; subsequent immunohistochemical studies of the tumor revealed cytoplasmic hormone granules containing gastrin-like immunoreactivity. We believe that the symptoms in our patient were the result of an ectopic ovarian gastrin-producing tumor.

Adult↗

Determinants of blood acetaldehyde level during ethanol oxidation in chronic alcoholics.

We analyzed the blood alcohol and acetaldehyde concentrations in nine alcoholics and four healthy nonalcoholic controls during and after an intravenous infusion of a high and a low dose of alcohol. In the alcoholics, the mean rates of plasma ethanol disappearance were significantly higher than in nonalcoholic controls. In the control subjects, the blood acetaldehyde levels were, in general, below the detection limit (less than 0.5 microM), but in sharp contrast to this, an elevated blood acetaldehyde during ethanol infusion was found in 6/9 alcoholics. Peak blood acetaldehyde values were higher after the high than the low dose of alcohol. Fructose infusion significantly enhanced the rate of plasma ethanol disappearance both in controls and in alcoholics, and this was usually associated with a significant elevation of blood acetaldehyde level. The maximal specific activities (expressed as milliunits/mg og protein) of alcohol, lactate, and aldehyde dehydrogenases in liver were significantly lower in alcoholics than in controls. Even more importantly, the peak blood acetaldehyde correlated negatively with the activity of hepatic "low-Km" aldehyde dehydrogenase. Our results suggest that the main reason for blood acetaldehyde elevation seen in these chronic alcoholics is their impaired capacity to metabolize acetaldehyde. This may be further accentuated by the increased rate of ethanol oxidation.

Acetaldehyde↗

Uninterrupted prolonged ethanol oxidation as a main pathogenetic factor of alcoholic liver damage: evidence from a new liquid diet animal model.

Marked fatty infiltration and degenerative or mild inflammatory changes including eosinophilic cytoplasmic degeneration in centrilobular cells and focal inflammatory changes with cell necrosis were observed in livers of rats maintained for 12 weeks on a nutritionally adequate and balanced liquid ethanol diet. The animals continuously oxidized ethanol due to the supplementation of the diet with a low dose of 4-methylpyrazole (4-MP, an alcohol dehydrogenase inhibitor), that decreased ethanol elimination by about 20%. In other, equicalorically pair-fed groups of rats receiving (a) a similar ethanol-containing liquid diet without 4-MP or (b) a diet with 4-MP and 20% less ethanol, only a few minor changes were seen. The liver histology of rats pair-fed a control diet with a 4 times higher doses of 4-MP was completely normal. The results indicate that the prolonged imbalance of hepatic metabolism due to the uninterrupted oxidation of ethanol is a crucial factor in the development of alcoholic liver injury.

Animals↗

Liver damage and sex hormones in chronic male alcoholics.

The hormonal status of thirteen chronic male alcoholics with histologically proved alcoholic liver cirrhosis and that of sixteen non-cirrhotic chronic alcoholics with a similar drinking history were studied after the abstinence of 7-14 days. Low levels of plasma testosterone and moderately elevated concentrations of plasma LH were seen in cirrhotics but not in non-cirrhotics. In cirrhotics, testosterone values showed positive correlations with levels of serum albumin and plasma prothrombin. The responses of LH and FSH secretions to LHRH stimulation were similar in the two groups as were the basal FSH values. Plasma concentrations of oestradiol were within normal limits in all patients. In both groups however, basal levels of plasma PRL and oestrone were increased, significantly more so in cirrhotics than in non-cirrhotics. The latter group was characterized by an exaggerated response of PRL secretion to TRH stimulation. SHBG concentrations were within normal range in both groups. In conclusion, our results emphasize the role of alcohol-induced liver damage in the pathogenesis of sex hormone disturbances of chronic male alcoholics without neglecting, however, the direct effects of alcohol abuse itself.

Adult↗

Metabolic basis of hypertyrosinemia in liver disease.

Serum tyrosine concentrations in patients with liver cirrhosis and with advanced fatty degeneration of the liver were 143 and 140 mumol/L, respectively, as compared with 65 mumol/l in normal controls. In biopsy samples of histologically normal livers, total tyrosine aminotransferase activity was 10.5 +/- 1.8 nmol p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate formed/mg of protein per min (mean +/- SEM; n = 10) whereas the corresponding figures for 7 cirrhotics were 4.95 +/- 0.85. The enzyme activity was normal in moderate adipose degeneration of the liver, but it was reduced when more than 50% of the hepatocytes were occupied by fat. It is suggested that the hypertyrosinemia of cirrhotics is, at least in part, due to decreased tyrosine aminotransferase activity.

Adult↗

The disulfiram (Antabuse)-Alcohol reaction in male alcoholics: its efficient management by 4-methylpyrazole.

4-methylpyrazole (4-MP), an inhibitor of alcohol dehydrogenase, rapidly abolished the accumulation of acetaldehyde following alcohol ingestion both in volunteers pretreated with the Antabuse analog calcium carbimide and in an antabuse-treated alcoholic. 4-MP also attenuated other typical symptoms, including facial flushing and tachycardia, thus suggesting its usefulness in the acute treatment of severe disulfiram-alcohol reactions.

Adult↗