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V Simko

Publications and source records attributed to V Simko.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Predicting severity of liver disease: twelve laboratory tests evaluated by multiple regression.

To determine the predictive value of laboratory procedures for severity of liver disease, twelve laboratory tests were evaluated in seventy-two patients with various liver disease and in nine non-liver disease hospitalized cases. A numerical score based on the number and extent of abnormal findings was developed for grading clinical and histological severity. Multiple linear regression, utilizing a forward stepwise selection procedure, was used to find the best combination of laboratory tests for prediction of disease severity. The best predictive model for both clinical and histological severity was found for lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT), total plasma cholesterol, alkaline phosphatase and bile acids. Of the routine tests prothrombin time and albumin/globulin were useful if the four-test combination listed above was not used. There was a significant correlation (p less than 0.001) between the clinical and the histological score, confirming validity of clinical scoring. In conclusion, this study shows LCAT to rank as first in predicting severity of liver disease. Cholesterol metabolism appears to be affected by liver disease even more than prothrombin time, albumin and globulins. LCAT and bile acids have a place in routine testing of severity of liver disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Increased lithogenicity of the bile after jejunoileal bypass in the rat.

Increased formation of biliary calculi is a complication of jejunoileal bypass (JIB) in man. We investigated the biliary lipid composition and bile flow rate in the rat 42 days after a JIB or sham operation. In the bile of the bypassed rats, the percentage cholesterol saturation and the concentration of phospholipids were significantly increased, while the concentration of bile acids and the lithogenic index (bile acids + phospholipids/cholesterol) were markedly decreased. The concentrations of cholesterol in the bile and in the liver were unchanged. These results suggest an increase in lithogenicity of the bile with decreased bile flow after JIB in the rat.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Exercise in rats with liver injury induced by carbon tetrachloride or bile duct obstruction. Blood cholic acid and liver histology.

UNLABELLED: Tolerance of exercise in rats with liver injury was evaluated by the response of plasma cholylglycine (CG) and by liver histology in two experiments with CCl4 hepatocellular damage and in two other experiments with cholestatic liver injury induced by obstruction of the common bile duct. (1) Rats swimming daily for 1 h while exposed to five successive doses of CCl4 and studied at rest, had a trend (P less than 0.06) to higher CG and a higher plasma SGPT (P less than 0.05) than sedentary CCl4 rats. (2) In rats recovering from four successive doses of CCl4 there were no differences between CG curves before, during, and after exercise, except at 48 h of recovery when exercise elevated CG (P less than 0.05). (3) Sixteen days after ligation of the bile duct CG was high but not affected by exercise, 45 days after ligation exercise resulted in further increase of CG (P less than 0.05). (4) When ligation of the bile duct lasted only 24 h, exercise prior to release of the obstruction did not affect CG. Exercise 8 h and 27 h after release of ligation resulted in an increase in CG (P less than 0.05). Return to pre-exercise CG occurred 30 min after exercise. CONCLUSION: CG was a useful indicator of liver injury showing a positive correlation with the CCl4 dose and a negative correlation with recovery from CCl4. Exercise had only mildly adverse effect in hepatotoxic and cholestatic liver injury. CG appeared to respond more sensitively to exercise after release of bile duct obstruction than in CCl4 hepatocellular injury.

Alanine Transaminase↗
PubMed1982

Nutritional status in alcoholics with and without liver disease.

Nutritional status, dietary calories, dietary protein, quantity of ethanol (ET), and severity of liver disease were tested in 62 alcoholics with liver disease (ALC LD). Twenty alcoholics without liver disease (ALC) and 20 abstinents (ABS) were also examined. Despite adequate protein intake ALC LD and ALC had significantly lower body weights, triceps skinfolds, and arm muscle circumferences than ABS. Poorer nutritional status in abusers is probably related to toxic effect of ET. ALC LD compared with ALC had no difference in ET (2.05 +/- 0.15 and 1.80 +/- 0.22 g/kg/day, respectively), in weight, triceps skinfold and the arm muscle circumference. ALC LD consumed fewer dietary calories, less protein (covering more of total calories with ET) and had a lower serum albumin. Decreased serum albumin in ALC LD was related to liver disease rather than to malnutrition: it inversely correlated with bilirubin but not with dietary protein. In ALC LD there was no correlation between ET, calories, or protein in the diet and severity of liver disease. The concept that ALC Ld is related to ET dose and/or malnutrition thus could not be confirmed. Other predisposing factors may be instrumental in the pathogenesis of ALC LD.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1981

Fecal fat microscopy. Acceptable predictive value in screening for steatorrhea.

Fecal fat droplet count was compared with Van de Kamer chemical determination of fecal fat in 41 adults (24 excreting fat in excess of 6 gm./24 hr.) in an aliquot of a 36-hour fecal collection. Predictability of the droplet count was confirmed by a positive correlation (P less than 0.01) between chemical fat and droplets when serially diluting stool containing high fat. The droplet count separated normal and abnormal fat excretors with a probability similar to the chemical analysis (P less than 0.001). The droplet count correlated with the chemical analysis (P less than 0.01) and using a calibration curve it predicted the amount of fat in the microscopic counting space (P less than 0.01). Improved standardization (dilution of stool 1:1 with Sudan-acetic acid, counting in a hemacytometer, microscopy of heated specimen) can easily be adopted by a bedside laboratory. Microscopy in an aliquot of stool homogenate collected over 24 hours is preferable over microscopy from a random stool specimen.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Physical exercise modifies the effect of high cholesterol-sucrose feeding in the rat.

1. Adult male rats were fed a basic chow (less than 0.01% cholesterol) and the same diet modified to contain 0.2% cholesterol and 20% sucrose. 2. Cholesterol-sucrose diet increased the erythrocyte cholesterol and the liver cholesterol. This diet decreased the epididymal fat weight and the biliary cholesterol and it improved the micellar solubility of cholesterol in the bile. 3. Swimming daily for 1 h for 94 days modified the effect of cholesterol-sucrose feeding: it induced plasma lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT), it decreased erythrocyte cholesterol, plasma total and unesterified cholesterol, and adipose tissue phospholipids to a level even beyond that of the animals on the basic chow. These changes in lipid levels induced by exercise suggest an important role of LCAT in cholesterol transport. 4. Exercise did not effect micellar solubility of cholesterol in the bile probably because cholesterol biosynthesis was already suppressed by dietary cholesterol. 5. Exercise promotes cholesterol esterification and transport from the peripheral tissues to the liver not only on a low cholesterol diet (our previous reports) but also when feeding a diet high in cholesterol and sucrose.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Effect of physical exercise on erythrocyte lipids, biliary cholesterol and bile lithogenicity in rats.

Male Wistar rats were exercised (E) by daily 1 h swimming for 24 days. Sedentry controls (S) were caged individually. Bile analysis at the end of the experiment (24 h after the last exercise) showed a decrease in bile cholesterol (CH) (P less than 0.02) and phospholipids (PL) (P less than 0.01) in the exercising animals, but no significant change in the bile acids (BA). These changes in the exercising rats resulted in a decreased CH saturation of bile: in an improvement in the (BA + PL)/CH ratio (P=0.05) and a trend to a decrease in the per cent saturation of bile CH. Exercise did not affect the bile flow or bile acid flux rate. Exercise decreased erythrocyte phospholipids (P less than 0.01). The effect of exercise on bile was associated with a trend to lower CH in the erythrocytes and in the adipose tissue and thus most likely does not represent a shift of cholesterol from the liver to the peripheral tissues. Physical exercise may be a preventive factor in cholesterol gallstone formation.

Adipose Tissue↗