Reply
Arun J Sanyal – 25 March 2004
Prognostic value of altered oral glutamine challenge in patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy
Manuel Romero‐Gómez, Lourdes Grande, Inés Camacho – 25 March 2004 – Oral glutamine challenge (OGC) has been found to be safe, and an altered response predicts elevated risk of overt hepatic encephalopathy (HE) in patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE). We assessed the survival prognosis of patients with cirrhosis, but without current overt HE, who have an altered OGC and MHE. MHE was inferred using 3 neuropsychological tests. Venous ammonia concentrations were measured pre‐ and post‐60 minutes of a 10 g oral glutamine load.
Do polyunsaturated fatty acids ameliorate hepatic steatosis in obese mice by SREPB‐1 suppression or by correcting essential fatty acid deficiency
Ian P.J. Alwayn, Patrick J. Javid, Kathleen M. Gura, Vânia Nosé, Mario Ollero, Mark Puder – 25 March 2004
Increased vascular heme oxygenase‐1 expression contributes to arterial vasodilation in experimental cirrhosis in rats
Yung‐Chang Chen, Pere Ginès, Jianhui Yang, Sandra N. Summer, Sandor Falk, Nash S. Russell, Robert W. Schrier – 25 March 2004 – Vascular heme oxygenase (HO) regulates vascular tone in normal conditions and in some pathologic circumstances (e.g., sepsis). However, its possible role in the pathogenesis of arterial vasodilation in cirrhosis is unknown. To address this question, the expression and activity of HO in arterial vessels was studied in rats at 1, 2, and 4 weeks after bile duct ligation (BDL) or sham operation.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease among patients with hypothalamic and pituitary dysfunction
Leon A. Adams, Ariel Feldstein, Keith D. Lindor, Paul Angulo – 25 March 2004 – Patients with hypopituitarism develop a phenotype similar to metabolic syndrome with central obesity and diabetes. Similarly, patients with hypothalamic damage may develop central obesity, insulin resistance, and hyperphagia. We sought to examine the clinical associations between hypopituitarism, hypothalamic dysfunction, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
The elusiveness of “normal” ALT in fatty liver
Vlad Ratziu, Françoise Imbert‐Bismut, Djamila Messous, Thierry Poynard – 25 March 2004
Treatment of pyogenic liver abscess: Prospective randomized comparison of catheter drainage and needle aspiration
Simon C.H. Yu, Simon S.M. Ho, Wan Y. Lau, Deacons T.K. Yeung, Edmund H.Y. Yuen, Paul S.F. Lee, Constantine Metreweli – 25 March 2004 – This study aims to compare the therapeutic effectiveness of continuous catheter drainage versus intermittent needle aspiration in the percutaneous treatment of pyogenic liver abscesses.
Analyses of hepatocellular proliferation in a mouse model of α‐1‐antitrypsin deficiency
David A. Rudnick, Yunjun Liao, Jae‐Koo An, Louis J. Muglia, David H. Perlmutter, Jeffrey H. Teckman – 25 March 2004 – α‐1‐Antitrypsin (α1‐AT) deficiency is the most common cause of metabolic pediatric liver disease. Hepatocellular injury is caused by toxicity of the mutant α‐1‐antitrypsin Z (α1‐ATZ) molecule retained within hepatocytes. In these studies, we used the PiZ transgenic mouse model of α1‐AT deficiency to examine hepatocellular proliferation in response to chronic liver injury resulting from this metabolic disease.
A randomized controlled trial of colchicine plus ursodiol versus methotrexate plus ursodiol in primary biliary cirrhosis: Ten‐year results
Marshall M. Kaplan, Steven Cheng, Lori Lyn Price, Peter A. L. Bonis – 25 March 2004 – Primary biliary cirrhosis frequently progresses despite treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), the only approved therapy. Previous studies suggested that colchicine and methotrexate may improve biochemical tests of liver function, symptoms, and liver histology. The aim of the present study was to determine if the addition of colchicine or methotrexate to UDCA would improve survival free of liver transplantation.