Pathogenesis of Hepatic Encephalopathy

Concise review of current concepts on nomenclature and pathophysiology of hepatic encephalopathy.

Hepatic encephalopathy is a neuropsychiatric complication of liver cirrhosis the symptoms of which may vary from imperceptible to severe, invaliding, and even lethal. Minimal hepatic encephalopathy is also important because of its tendency to impair patients' cognitive functions and quality of life. The polyetiological pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy is intensively studied. A general con...

Hepatic encephalopathy: a review.

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a complication that presents in as many as 28% of patients with cirrhosis, and reported up to ten years after the diagnosis of cirrhosis. Commonly, it is observed in patients with severe hepatic failure and is characterized by neuropsychiatric manifestations that can range in severity from a mild alteration in mental state to a coma; additionally, some neuromuscul...

Evaluation of the role of TLR4 in endotoxin-induced hepatic encephalopathy in rats with biliary cirrhosis

Background: Hepatic encephalopathy is defined as a neuropsychiatric brain dysfunction in acute or chronic liver failure. Infection and inflammation have crucial role in its pathophysiology. The purpose of our study was to demonstrate the relationship between toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) expression and the encephalopathy induced with endotoxin in biliary cirrhotic rats. Methods: The present stud...

Recent advances in hepatic encephalopathy

Hepatic encephalopathy describes the array of neurological alterations that occur during acute liver failure or chronic liver injury. While key players in the pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy, such as increases in brain ammonia, alterations in neurosteroid levels, and neuroinflammation, have been identified, there is still a paucity in our knowledge of the precise pathogenic mechanism. Th...

The pathogenesis and medical treatment of hepatic encephalopathy.