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Biomedical subjects

A Loria

Publications and source records attributed to A Loria.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Serum hyaluronan as a marker of liver fibrosis in chronic viral hepatitis C: effect of alpha-interferon therapy.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: It has been suggested that increases in serum hyaluronan levels might be a marker of fibrosis in chronic viral hepatitis C. Patients receiving alpha-interferon therapy are an excellent model to determine the relationship between serum hyaluronan and liver fibrosis, since results suggest that alpha-interferon could reduce liver fibrosis. METHODS: We studied the relationship between serum hyaluronan and histopathological indices of liver fibrosis, inflammation and necrosis, before and after alpha-interferon therapy (3 MU, three times weekly for 6 months), and the effect of treatment on serum hyaluronan and on histological liver fibrosis, in 52 patients. Hyaluronan levels were measured using a radiometric assay and the liver histopathological indices were scored according to the Knodell system. RESULTS: The serum hyaluronan level correlated with the extent of liver fibrosis both before and after alpha-interferon therapy (p < 0.0001), but not with the histopathological indices of liver inflammation or necrosis. Parallel changes in serum hyaluronan and liver fibrosis occurred: serum hyaluronan levels fell significantly in patients in whom fibrosis improved (p < 0.01, n = 11), increased significantly in patients in whom fibrosis worsened (p < 0.05, n = 10), and did not change significantly in patients in whom fibrosis was unmodified (n = 31). Furthermore, fibrosis improved only when the antiviral effect of alpha-interferon was reflected by persistent normalization of serum alanine aminotransferase, although there was no correlation between serum hyaluronan levels and alanine aminotransferase activities. CONCLUSION: Serum hyaluronan thus appears to be a non-invasive index of liver fibrosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

[Chronic viral hepatitis C. Anatomoclinical and biological correlations].

OBJECTIVES: The relations between the severity of histopathological lesions and epidemiological, clinical and biological data were studied in 86 patients with chronic viral hepatitis C. PATIENTS AND METHODS: None of the patients had any clinical signs of decompensated liver disease. Three groups of patients were individualized according to histopathological findings: 17 (20%) had chronic persistent hepatitis, 48 (56%) had chronic active hepatitis without cirrhosis, and 21 (24%) had cirrhosis. RESULTS: Patients with cirrhosis differed significantly from patients in the two other groups for all biological parameters. With multivariate analysis, alkaline phosphatase activity and serum hyaluronic acid were two independent parameters significantly associated with cirrhosis. A serum hyaluronic acid level above 150 micrograms/L or alkaline phosphatase activity above normal were predictive of cirrhosis with a sensitivity of 87% and a specificity of 93%. None of the parameters in this study provided a clear distinction between patients with chronic persistent and chronic active hepatitis. CONCLUSION: Determination of serum hyaluronic acid and alkaline phosphatase activity as a non invasive index of cirrhosis could be useful for diagnosis and follow-up in patients with chronic viral hepatitis C.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Red blood cell indices in a high altitude hospital population.

It is currently accepted that the red blood cell indices (MCV, MCH and MCHC) are the same in general care hospital populations throughout the world. The aim of the study was to explore whether the internationally accepted values for red cell indices are the same in a hospital located in Mexico City at 2240 meters above sea level (7352 feet). The setting for the study was a third level specialized care hospital for adults with chronic degenerative problems (trauma and obstetric cases were not seen). Each day, for a period of 139 working days, 120 EDTA blood samples of patients were assayed within 3h of extraction in a flow cytometer analyzer (Coulter STKR). Using the moving average approach of Bull (Reference 3) in batches of 20 samples, a raw daily value for each indice was obtained with the mean of the six daily moving averages. The daily raw value was multiplied by a ratio (assigned/observed ratio) of the corresponding daily value obtained in a normal preserved blood control (Coulter's 4C): we refer to them as corrected values in this paper. A total of seven batches of the Coulter control were used to obtain the corrected values during the 139 days of observation. The results were as follows. The mean (SD) of correction values in the 139 days were: MCV = 90.33 (.810) fl, MCH = 30.75 (.582) pg, MCHC = 33.38 (.630) g/dl. The indices showed significant changes in mean as a function of batch of the Coulter control used (F tests, p < 0.0001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Effect of liver transplantation on sex-hormone disorders in male patients with alcohol-induced or post-viral hepatitis advanced liver disease.

The effects of liver transplantation on the pituitary-gonadal axis and sex-hormone metabolism were evaluated by studying hormonal status (androgens, oestrogens, and gonadotropins) and sex-hormone-binding globulin levels in men with advanced liver disease of both alcoholic and viral origins. Comparison of the results prior to and 6 months after liver transplantation showed that successful liver transplantation in men induced significant differences in sex-hormone levels and in pituitary-gonadal function in both alcoholic and post-hepatitis patients. Plasma testosterone and dihydrotestosterone levels increased, oestrogen (oestrone and oestradiol) and androstenedione levels fell while gonadotropin (FSH and LH) levels increased. There was also a fall in plasma prolactin levels. Sex-hormone binding globulin plasma levels were elevated prior to transplantation and decreased thereafter. These data show that male patients with advanced liver disease have biological hypogonadism and feminization, irrespective of the aetiology, and that these abnormalities rapidly improve after successful liver transplantation. Therefore in men with advanced liver disease the biochemical signs of sex hormone disturbance are reversible and may be largely related to the liver disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Factors predictive of the response to interferon in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Factors predictive of the response to interferon in patients with chronic hepatitis C remain to be identified. In this study, we investigated factors predictive of the short-term response, defined as a return to normal alanine aminotransferase activity after treatment, and the long-term response defined as normal alanine aminotransferase activity 1 year after completing treatment, in 75 patients with chronic hepatitis C virus treated with recombinant alpha interferon (either 6 MU x 3/week for 3 months then 3 MU x 3/week for 3 months (n = 27) or 3 MU x 3/week for 6 months (n = 48)). At the end of treatment, 42 patients (56%) had normal alanine aminotransferase activity ("responders") and 33 (44%) had high alanine aminotransferase activity ("non-responders"). Twenty (48%) of the 42 responders had normal alanine aminotransferase activity 1 year after treatment ("sustained responders"), while 22 (52%) had high alanine aminotransferase activity ("transient responders"). The dosage of interferon was not predictive of the short-term and the long-term response to treatment. The responders differed significantly from the non-responders in terms of age, i.v. drug abuse, aspartate aminotransferase, gammaglutamyltranspeptidase and alkaline phosphatase activities, bilirubinemia, serum bile acid concentrations, prothrombin time, platelet count, ferritinemia, hyaluronic acid levels, positivity for the antibody to 5.1.1 of the recombinant immunoblot assay band and the histological fibrosis score. The following parameters were independently correlated with the short-term response in a multivariate analysis: gammaglutamyltranspeptidase activity, serum bile acid concentrations and positivity for the antibody to 5.1.1 of the recombinant immunoblot assay band.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1994

[Hepatitis C].

Hepatitis C virus (HCV), identified in 1989, is the main agent of Non-A, Non-B hepatitis. The number of HCV carriers in France is estimated between 500,000 and 2 millions. The main risk factors for HCV infection are blood products transfusion and i.v. drug abuse. Cirrhosis occurs in 30% of cases with a delay ranging from 10 to 30 years, and hepatocellular carcinoma in 2.5% of cases. Interferon is, for instance, the only effective therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C; however, prolonged response (in terms of transaminase normalization) after stopping treatment occurs only in 20% of patients.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1979

Serum ferritin and mean corpuscular volume measurement in the diagnosis of beta-thalassaemia minor and iron deficiency.

The value of serum ferritin and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) measurement in distinguishing between iron deficient, beta-thalassaemia trait and normal subjects has been studied. Normal subjects had normal ferritin and MCV, iron-deficient ones had low ferritin and low or normal MCV, and thalassaemics had normal ferritin and low MCV. By the combined use of these two measurements it was possible to identify individuals belonging to one of the three categories with an accuracy of over 95%. Although definitive diagnosis of beta-thalassaemia trait requires the demonstration of abnormal haemoglobin A2 levels or reduced beta-chain synthesis, serum ferritin and MCV measurements are useful screening procedures for the initial diagnosis of beta-thalassaemia trait and iron deficiency. Because of the very small amounts of blood required for both of these measurements, they are particularly suitable for surveying large numbers of subjects in populations with a high prevalence of hypochromic-microcytic anaemias.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Serum ferritin in beta-thalassemia trait.

The diagnostic value of serum ferritin measurements in discriminating iron-deficiency anemia from thalassemia trait has been studied. In contrast to serum iron, percent transferrin saturation and total iron-binding capacity, where a high degree of overlap existed between the two groups, a clear-cut difference in serum ferritin levels was found between iron deficiency and thalassemia trait. The best separation of iron deficiency, thalassemia and normal controls was given by the combination of mean corpuscular volume and serum ferritin. Although definitive diagnosis of beta-thalassemia trait requires the demonstration of abnormal Hb A2 levels or beta-chain synthesis, serum ferritin is a useful screening test for the initial diagnosis of thalassemia trait. Because of the very small amounts of serum required for the measurement of ferritin, it is particularly suitable for surveying populations with a high prevalence of hypochromic-microcytic anemias.

Anemia, Hypochromic↗