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Biomedical subjects

A Grilo

Publications and source records attributed to A Grilo.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Hepatic and blood lead levels in patients with chronic liver disease.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between lead levels in the liver and blood, liver function indices and other biological variables in patients with liver disease. DESIGN: Prospective study. METHOD: The levels of lead in blood and hepatic tissue was measured in 92 patients with different liver diseases and in a control group (n = 100). Lead levels were analysed by electrothermic atomic absorption spectrophotometry. RESULTS: For controls, the mean lead level in blood was 175 +/- 87 micrograms/l. Blood lead levels were significantly linked with alcohol intake. They were raised in patients with alcoholic liver disease, including both those with cirrhosis (230 +/- 65 micrograms/l) and those with chronic non-cirrhotic liver disease (247 +/- 82 micrograms/l). The differences between these subgroups, the control group, and the patients with non-alcoholic liver disease were statistically significant. The mean hepatic lead level for patients was 2.30 +/- 1.40 micrograms/g dry weight (d.w.), and 2.15 +/- 1.71 micrograms/g d.w. for controls (not significant). Patients with alcoholic cirrhosis had higher hepatic lead levels than non-alcoholic patients (2.62 +/- 1.48 micrograms/g d.w. versus 2.07 +/- 1.14 micrograms/g d.w., respectively), although the difference was not statistically significant. There was no relationship between blood and hepatic lead levels (r = 0.27; not significant). Blood lead levels correlated with phosphorus (r = -0.36; P < 0.001), and alcohol intake (g/day; r = 0.32; P < 0.001). Blood and hepatic lead levels in patients with cirrhosis were similar for patients with Child-Pugh class A, B and C disease. CONCLUSIONS: Increased levels of lead were found in the blood of patients who consumed alcohol and those with alcoholic liver disease. Our data suggest that both blood and hepatic lead levels are not influenced by changes in liver function.

Adolescent↗

[The toxic shock syndrome versus the adult Kawasaki syndrome. The diagnostic difficulties].

The case of a 18-year-old woman with the toxic shock syndrome (TSS) associated to a staphylococcal infection in the maxillary sinus is presented. The initial course of the disease was clinically superposed to a Kawasaki syndrome (KS). Both entities, of purely clinical diagnosis, possess many common elements occasionally making differentiation extremely difficult. The clinical data that may orient diagnosis to one of the processes was analyzed. Finally, it is emphasized that the paranasal sinus must be considered as an occult foci in those cases of TSS in which there is no apparent foci of infection.

Adolescent↗

Developmental studies on creatine kinase. Isoenzyme in rat gastrointestinal tract.

Creatine kinase activity and its isoenzymatic profile in rat intestinal mucose during normal development have been studied. Creatine kinase enzymatic activity increased stepwise during fetal development and the first week of life. An isoenzymatic pattern of exclusively CK-BB types occurred in all segments of the digestive tract during the early fetal stage. The isoenzyme profile of creatine kinase in the esophagic tissue with advancing maturation of the fetus shifted in the same way as in adults, with preferential concentration of CK-MM. However, CK-BB continued to be the main isoenzyme in the rest of the digestive tract. Our results show that rats are particularly suitable for experimental studies of intestinal creatine kinase isoenzymes.

Animals↗