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Liver protocollagen proline hydroxylase in human liver diseases and experimental liver fibrosis.

Liver protocallagen proline hydroxylase activity (PPH activity) was determined in patients with various liver diseases, CCl4-induced liver fibrosis rats and cholin deficiency (tcd) fatty liver rats. The following results were obtained: Liver PPH activity in patients with chronic hepatitis was higher than that in patients with acute hepatitis, while the activity in patients with liver cirrhosis was much higher than that in patients with chronic hepatitis. The activity was higher in patients with chronic active hepatitis than in those with chronic inactive hepatitis. Patients with active and progressive liver cirrhosis were found to have an especially high PPH activity, in whom the activity reflected well the degree of liver fibrosis. Even though fibrosis in persistent hepatitis was almost negligible or slight, the degree of liver PPH activity in persistent hepatitis was similar to that in liver cirrhosis. Liver PPH activities in CCl4-induced liver fibrosis rats and CD fatty liver rats elevated proportionally to the lapse of time. Whilst liver PPH activity in rats of CD fatty liver without fibrosis in 23 to 31 weeks after the start of the experiment was slightly lower than that in rats of CD fatty liver with fibrosis. But liver PPH activity of the former was considerably higher than that of control rats.

Acute Disease

The mechanism of release of hepatic enzymes in various liver diseases. II. Altered activity ratios of GOT to GPT in serum and liver of patients with liver diseases.

The activities of glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT) and glutamate dehydrogenase (GLD) were determined in liver biopsy specimens and sera of patients with various liver diseases. Mitochondrial and cytosol isozymes of GOT were also separated for their assay. The activity ratio of GOT/GPT in serum was found to reflect the ratio in liver cytosol. The increased ratio in advanced or severe liver diseases, such as liver cirrhosis, was due to the greater decrease in liver cytosol GPT activity, this being pronounced in primary hepatoma. The activity of GLD decreased similarly but less markedly. The relatively greater decrease in GPT compared with GOT in advanced liver diseases was not mainly due to leakage of the enzyme from the liver, but to a specific mechanism associated with hepatic injury or its progression. Other pathological conditions of the liver such as those in obstructive jaundice and alcoholic liver injury also appeared to result in reduced liver GPT activity, which was reflected in the serum as an increased GOT/GPT ratio.

Alanine Transaminase

Liver damage after paracetamol overdose. Comparison of liver-function tests, fasting serum bile acids, and liver histology.

54 patients have been studied after paracetamol (acetaminophen) overdose. Liver-function tests and fasting serum bile-acids were measured daily; liver biopsy was done in all cases, and slides were examined "blind" to assess liver damage. The plasma-paracetamol was measured on one occasion. A histological abnormality was present in the livers of 53 of the 54 patients, and was minor in 23, moderate in 16, and severe in 14. In 6 patients with moderate and 18 with mild histological abnormality liver-function tests were normal. A serum-aspartate-aminotransferase above 400 units/1 was always associated with severe histological liver damage. Fasting serum bile-acids were raised in 51 of the patients with abnormal liver histology; the serum-bile-acid seemed to be a more sensitive indicator of mild liver-cell damage than was the transaminase level. There was, however, little correlation between increase in bile-acid concentration and the degree of histological abnormality. As a result of these investigations empirically determined levels of plasma-paracetamol have been drawn which give a guide to the likelihood of liver damage after paracetamol overdose.

Acetaminophen

Effect of cholesterol content on some physical and functional properties of mitochondria isolated from adult rat liver, fetal liver, cholesterol-enriched liver and hepatomas AH-130, 3924A and 5123.

The cholesterol to phospholipid ratio in mitochondria from hepatomas AH-130, 3924A and 5123 is higher than in the particles isolated from adult or fetal rat livers. Nearly all the cholesterol of hepatoma mitochondria is located in membranes. As in liver mitochondria, in the particles isolated from hepatoma AH-130 there is more cholesterol in the outer than in the inner membrane. In mitochondria from cholesterol-enriched liver and hepatomas, there occurs a decrease in extent of hypoosmotic and phosphate-induced swelling and a decrease of conformational changes linked to energy states. The phenomenon is more marked in particles which exhibit higher cholesterol to phospholipid ratios. A statistically significant negative correlation exists between the cholesterol to phospholipid ratio and extent of volume or conformational changes. No significant modifications of these parameters were found in fetal liver mitochondria. Cholesterol content does not influence K+ uptake by cholesterol-enriched or hepatoma mitochondria. Nor does cholesterol content affect the respiratory increment related to this uptake. As a consequence of K+ uptake, total mitochondrial water exchangeable with tritiated water rises 20% while sucrose-impermeable water rises 42-48% in both adult rat liver and hepatoma AH-130 mitochondria. Absorbance changes linked to ion uptake do not correspond merely to variations in mitochondrial water content. Water content is apparently not influenced by the cholesterol to phospholipid ratio. However, the ratio is significantly correlated to both extent and initial rate of absorbance decrease of mitochondrial suspensions during K+ uptake. The higher the ratio, the lower the extent and initial rate of absorbance decrease.

Animals

The appearance and degradation of specific hepatocellular cytoplasmic inclusion bodies in rat liver due to D-galactosamine. I. The relation between the amount of liver glycogen and the appearance of the atypical dense bodies in the liver cell.

One of the most sensitive and specific signs of the galactosamine effect upon the rat liver cell is the appearance of PAS-positive and diastase-resistant granules within the cytoplasm of hepatocytes. Light-microscopic, histochemical, biochemical, and electron-microscopic findings reveal that the appearance of these ADB (= atypical dense bodies) depends upon a working glycogen metabolism at the time of GalN treatment. The ADB are composed of particles resembling, due to shape and size, ribosomes and beta particles of glycogen. Most of them are surrounded by the rER, but they are never enclosed by a limiting membrane. Due to sequential changes they can be generally classified into three types; the early, the intermediate, and the late type. In seven experiments it can be shown, that the appearance of the ADB depends upon the time and dosage after GalN treatment. They occur even if an additional treatment with galactose or uridine prevents the liver from the features of a hepatitis, as also shown in the livers of newborn animals up to 3 weeks of age. The histochemical response against various glucosidases, hexosaminidases, pronase, and RNAse as well as against various fixatives indicates that ADB are composed of, at least, two different constituents, the former RNAse-sensitive and visible with routine light-microscopic staining procedures, the latter RNA-resistant, PAS-positive, and invisible after staining with H & E or toluidine blue. The latter is diastase-resistant, suggesting that this portion of ADB does not represent the usual glycoproteins but some abnormal metabolite of glycogen. The ADB can be detected with maximal accumulation in the cytoplasm of hepatocytes at that time when the glycogen content determined in the liver homogenate by biochemical methods is greatly reduced.

Animals

[Hemodynamics of the liver. II. Hemodynamics of the dog liver after resection of 70% of the liver and ligation of the left branch of the portal vein].

Blood supply to the liver was determined by help of the direct method after 70 per cent hepatic resection and after ligation of the left branch of portal vein in dogs. The total blood supply remains unchanged after both surgical procedures, while the circulation in the remaining lobes, resp. in those patent for portal blood stream, considerably increases. After the resection portal hypertension develops. This elevated portal pressure was not observed after ligation of the left portal branch.

Animals

Etiology of human liver cancer: controlled prospective study in liver cirrhosis.

The incidence of primary liver cell carcinoma was investigated in a prospective study over 6 yr and 5 mo in 403 clinically unselected patients derived from a homogeneous population by means of serial determination of alpha 1-fetoprotein (AFP) by radioimmunoassay. The diagnosis of liver cirrhosis was proved in 90% by laparoscopy and/or histology and/or autopsy. The incidence of primary liver cell carcinoma in liver cirrhosis in the clinically studied patients was 4.47%, significantly lower than in the autopsy material (11.03%; p less than or equal to 0.025). In the follow-up study, all patients with increasing AFP concentrations exhibited a primary liver cell carcinoma. A transitory rise of AFP (higher than 50 ng/ml) was observed in 15.1% of patients with liver cirrhosis without primary liver cell cancer. In contrast to the results of animal experiments, this transitory rise of AFP was not followed by malignant transformation of the cirrhotic tissue. Posthepatitic liver cirrhosis was observed in 21.57%, postalcoholic liver cirrhosis in 42.93%, and cryptogenic liver cirrhosis in 27.30%. Liver cirrhosis of other etiology occurred in 8.19%. The incidences of primary liver cell cancer in these 4 groups were 4.94, 4.62, 5.45, and 0%, respectively. These differences are not statistically significant, although in absolute figures postalcoholic liver cirrhosis is the main cause of primary liver cell carcinoma in this sample from West Germany. HBs antigen-positive liver cirrhosis was more often associated with primary liver cell cancer than HBs antigen-negative liver cirrhosis (6.58 versus 3.96%); this difference also is not statistically significant. Observations of larger groups of patients may show a higher risk of developing primary liver cell carcinoma in those with a combination of alcohol abuse and HBs antigenemia and/or acute hepatitis in the history. Patients without these 2 risk factors had an incidence of primary liver cell carcinoma of 2.61%; those with 1 risk factor, 5.77%; and those with both risk factors, 10.71%.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular

Hepatoma, host liver, and normal rat liver phospholipids as affected by diet.

Individual phospholipid classes derived from hepatoma, host liver, and normal liver of rats maintained on chow and fat free diets were examined in detail and the sphingomyelin and phosphoglyceride structures compared. The concentration of hepatoma spingomyelin was higher while phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylserine, and diphosphatidylglycerol were only one-fourth to one-half normal liver concentrations, irrespective of diet. Hepatoma phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidyl-serine, and phosphatidylinositol contained higher percentages of 18:1 and, except phosphatidylinositol, much lower percentages of most polyunsaturated fatty acids than liver. The 1-position of host liver phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine, normal liver phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine, and hepatoma phosphatidylcholine from animals on both diets had the same approximate fatty acid composition, but the percentage of 16:0 in hepatoma phosphatidylethanolamine was reduced dramatically. The low percentage of 16:0 at the 1-position of both phosphatidylethanolamine and triglycerides suggests that the 1-position fatty acids of these two classes may have a similar origin. The fat free diet reduced the percentage of 18:2 in liver diphosphatidylglycerol 3-fold and the decrease was offset by increased percentages of 16:1 and 18:1; whereas the very low percentage of 18:2 in hepatoma diphosphatidylglycerol was offset by increased percentages of 18:0 and 16:0. Liver phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylcholine from the animals fed the fat free diet contained the highest percentage of 20:3, which replaced 20:4. Hepatoma sphingomyelin contained a much higher concentration of 24:0 and 24:1 than liver. The hepatoma sphingomyelin also contained a C-24 dienoic acid, which was not detected in host and normal liver. Host liver contained a higher percentage of 22:6 than normal liver. The diglycerides derived from host liver PC contained a significantly higher percentage of carbon number 38 than normal liver. Diglycerides derived from hepatoma phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine exhibited a 1-random-2-random distribution of fatty acids, whereas diglycerides from liver phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine showed pairing of specific fatty acids.

Animals

Gangliosides of liver tumors induced by N-2-fluorenylacetamide. I. Ganglioside alterations in liver tumorigenesis and normal development.

Hyperplastic nodules and hepatocellular carcinomas were induced in livers of rats by a low-protein diet containing 0.05% of the carcinogen N-2-fluorenylacetamide. Ganglioside amounts and composition were determined for histologically different hepatocellular carcinomas and compared with those for control livers, hyperplastic nodules, and liver tissue surrounding hepatomas and nodules as well as those for livers of fetal, newborn, 1-week-old, weanling, and adult Sprague-Dawley rats. Ganglioside sialic acid levels were elevated above those of normal adult liver in all liver tissues following the carcinogen treatment regimen. Livers of fetal and newborn rats contained nearly twice the amount of ganglioside sialic acid on a protein or DNA basis as did livers of adult rats. Analyses of individual nodules and hepatomas revealed two populations of tumors in which the levels of ganglioside sialic acid were 2.3 and 3.8 times normal. Ganglioside sialic acid content was at hepatoma levels in small nodules. Individual gangliosides were evenly distributed between products of the monosialoganglioside and disialoganglioside pathways in normal liver with a ratio of [N-acetylneuraminic acid (sialic acid)] (NAN)-galactose (Gal)-N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc)-(NAN)-Gal-glucose (Glc)-ceramide (Cer) (GD1a) to Gal-GalNAc-(NAN)2-Gal-Glc-Cer (GD1b) of about one. In contrast, the monosialogangliosides predominated in liver tissues following administration of the carcinogen. Increased levels of specific monosialogangliosides were present in nodules, in liver of carcinogen-treated animals prior to the appearance of tumors, and in the liver tissues surrounding nodules and hepatomas. In single hepatomas, ganglioside patterns correlated with tumorigenicity. A well-differentiated hepatoma had a normal complement of most gangliosides but was deficient in trisialogangliosides. In a poorly diferentiated but well-circumscribed hepatoma, the relative levels of all higher gangliosides were reduced. The monosialoganglioside Gal-GalNAc-(NAN)-Gal-Glc-Cer (GM1) accounted for 80% of the total ganglioside in a poorly circumscribed and poorly differentiated hepatoma. The ganglioside pattern of fetal livers most closely resembled that of a poorly differentiated hepatoma. During the first week post natum, levels of all higher monosialogangliosides and disialogangliosides declined, but the decline was most pronounced for gangliosides GM1 and GD1a. The ratio of GM1 + GD1a to GD1b + NAN-Gal-GalNAc-(NAN)2-Gal-Glc-Cer or (NAN)3-Gal-Glc-Cer (GT), used as an index of the relative predominance of the monoslaloganglioside and disialoganglioside pathways, fell from 2.7 for fetal liver to 0.4 for adult liver. Pools of precursor gangliosides increased during development, transiently for GalNAc-(NAN)-Gal-Glc-Cer and for more than 3 weeks for NAN-Gal-Glc-Cer. When hyperplastic nodules and hepatocellular carcinomas were compared, a reverse pattern was observed. The ratio of GM1 + GD1a to GD1b + GT rose steadily to values of 2.7 and 11...

2-Acetylaminofluorene

[Accuracy of liver scintigraphy in focal liver disease; a comparison with postmortem studies in 159 cases (author's transl)].

In recent literature numerous papers have been published concerning the accuracy of scintigraphic detection of liver metastases. Unfortunately however, the problem of false positive results is not particularly discussed in these papers. Because of the lack of information it was our aim to compare our own scintigraphic results with postmortem histopathological findings. Our investigations were carried out in 139 patients with various types of malignancy. Included in the investigations were 20 patients with primary liver tumor. The interval between scintigraphic examination and the histological verification ranged from 3 days to 1 year. In 62 of the patients with liver metastases, histopathology revealed liver metastases, while 77 patients showed no liver involvement. We arrived at the correct diagnosis "liver metastasis" in 50 out of 62 patients (80.6%). False negative scintigrams (19.4%) were found in most of the respective cases when diffuse malignant involvement such as leukemia and Hodgkin's disease was present, and also when the size of the metastases was less than 2 cm in diameter. Fifty six out of 77 patients (72.7%) without histopathological evidence of liver metastases revealed negative scintigrams. Twenty one (27.3%) false positive scintigrams were mostly due to (diffuse) nonmalignant disease e.g. fibrosis and cirrhosis. The overall accuracy of liver scintigraphy in our study was 76.2%. In 18 of 20 (90%) patients with focal liver disease correct diagnosis was established. 7 patients with benign liver tumors and 11 of 13 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma showed focal defects. Considering the fact that liver scintigraphy is a non-invasive procedure, it can be recommended as screening method. In connection with sonography and computer tomography liver scintigraphy can undoubtedly improve the diagnostic accuracy in detecting liver metastases and primary liver tumors.

Autopsy

Nonalcoholic liver disease. Overlooked causes of liver injury in patients with heavy alcohol consumption.

Alcoholic subjects with abnormal liver chemistry studies are often assumed to have alcoholic liver disease, even though the diagnosis is not established by liver biopsy. To determine the magnitude of nonalcoholic liver disease in patients with heavy alcohol consumption, the data on 145 consecutive patients judged to consume at least 80 g of alcohol daily for prolonged periods, and who underwent liver biopsy at the University of Chicago, were reviewed. Nonalcoholic liver disease was suspected clinically and confirmed by liver biopsy in 40 (28 per cent), whereas alcoholic liver disease was suspected in 105 but confirmed in only 83 (80 per cent). The remaining 22 patients had liver disorders, including cholangitis or pericholangitis, acute hepatitis or some form of chronic hepatitis, for which they required appropriate therapy. Neither clinical features, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), anti-HBsAg nor serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase to serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGOT:SGPT) ratios distinguished these 22 patients from those with alcoholic liver disease. Thus, liver biopsy is necessary for the identification of nonalcoholic liver disease in patients suspected of harboring alcoholic liver disease, since other clinical features do not allow identification of these patients.

Acute Disease

Hepatoma, host liver, and normal rat liver lipids: distribution of isomeric monoene fatty acids in individual lipid classes.

Monoenoic acid fractions were isolated from phosphatidycholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, triglycerides, and cholesteryl esters of hepatoma 7288CTC, host liver, and normal liver from animals maintained on chow and fat free diets. Hexadecanoate (16:1), octadecenoate (18:1), and eisosenoate (20:1) fractions were analyzed quantitatively for their isomeric composition. The fat free diet had little or no effect relative to the chow diet on the isomeric composition of 16:1, 18:1, and 20:1 from any lipid class in either heptoma, host liver, or normal liver. Host livers were reduced in palmitoleic acid, and oleic and eicos-11-enoic acids were increased relative to normal liver. The 16:1 fraction from triglyceride of normal liver, host liver, and hepatoma contained 90, 80, and 75% palmitoleic acid, respectively. The 20:1 fraction from triglycerides of normal liver, host liver, and hepatoma contained ca. 55, 70, and 60% eicos-11-enoic acid, respectively, with the remainder consisting of eicos-13-enoic acid. The proportion of vaccenic acid in the 18:1 fraction was 60, 50, 20, and 25% for phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine, triglycerides, and cholesteryl esters, respectively, with oleic acid making up the balance. In contrast, all hepatoma lipid classes exhibited the same proportion of oleic (70%) and vaccenic (30%) acids. These data appear to be the first to demonstrate lipid class specificity for isomeric octadecenoic acids in normal liver and the loss of this specificity in a neoplasm.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular

Liver cirrhosis and oestrogen metabolism--perfusion studies with cirrhotic rat livers.

1. Radioactive oestrone and oestradiol-17 beta were perfused through normal and cirrhotic livers of rats. Liver cirrhosis had been induced by a combined application of carbon tetrachloride and azathioprine. 2. The hepatic uptake of both oestrogens by cirrhotic livers was reduced; the uptake of oestrone was more affected than that of oestradiol-17 beta. 3. The pattern of oestrogen metabolites indicated a reduction of the sulphotransferase activity in cirrhotic livers. The activity of other enzymes of oestrogen metabolism were similar in normal and cirrhotic livers. 4. The amount of oestrogen glucuronides excreted into the bile was significantly less in cirrhotic livers although the bile volume was larger in cirrhotic than normal livers. 5. The release of oestrogen metabolites into the circulating medium was considerably higher during perfusion of cirrhotic livers. From the findings presented here it is concluded that the turnover of oestrogens is slower in cirrhotic than in normal livers. Moreover, it may be speculated that the distribution volume of the oestrogen metabolites is smaller in rats with liver cirrhosis, due to a disturbed enterohepatic circulation. This results in higher oestrogen concentrations in extracellular fluids, thus supporting the concept of hyper-oestrogenism in liver cirrhosis.

Animals

Regeneration of human liver after hepatic lobectomy studied by repeated liver scanning and repeated needle biopsy.

Regeneration of the residual lobe of the liver after hepatic lobectomy in humans was studied by repeated liver scanning in seven noncirrhotic and three cirrhotic patients. Each patient was studied for several months during the study which lasted from 1-12 years. Regeneration was apparent in noncirrhotic liver remnants following hepatic lobectomy. In the case of a long standing, space occupying lesions such as benign giant cysts, the liver remnant would complete its regeneration process rather early, usually within a few months of hepatic lobectomy. In hepatoma cases, however, regeneration of the residual lobe after hepatic resection usually took five or six months for completion. On the contrary, no definite increase in the size of the liver remnant was seen on repeated liver scanning in cirrhotic patients. Histologic study of the residual lobe was repeated on needle biopsy specimens in two noncirrhotic and four cirrhotic patients. Regenerative hyperplasia of liver cells with large hyperchromatic, or double nuclei never seen in the preresection liver appeared in the liver remnant five, 11, and 27 days after hepatic lobectomy in noncirrhotic patients. In cirrhotics, however, there were no histologic changes between the preresection liver and the postresection remnant studied three, five, 15, 40 days or even two years and 8 months after hepatic lobectomy.

Biopsy, Needle

Antipyrine clearance per unit volume liver: an assessment of hepatic function in chronic liver disease.

Liver size has been estimated clinically and by a non-invasive ultrasound technique in 16 normal subjects, 16 patients with cirrhosis, 10 patients with chronic biliary obstruction, and three patients with primary hepatoma. Antipyrine disposition was also measured in each subject. Hepatomegaly was not clinically detectable until there was approximately a 20% increase in liver size. Additional increases in size correlated significantly with clinical estimates of hepatomegaly. Antipyrine clearance had a three-fold range in normal subjects. Its mean value was significantly reduced in each subgroup of patients with liver disease. However, 48% of patients with liver disease had values within the normal range. In normal subjects there was a significant correlation between antipyrine clearance and liver volume. Thus, intersubject variation in clearance normalised for liver volume was less than clearance alone. Antipyrine clearance normalised for liver volume in patients with liver disease was significantly lower than in normal subjects and there was no overlap with normal subjects. In conclusion, assessment of drug metabolising efficiency per unit volume of liver increased the discrimination in differentiating subjects with normal from abnormal livers.

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