BACKGROUND & AIMS To evaluate the risk of depressive disorders among non-alcoholic patients by using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). METHODS We conducted a retrospective study of a matched cohort of 52 725 participants (10 545 non-alcoholic cirrhotic patients and 42 180 control patients) who were selected from the NHIRD. Patients were observed for a maximum of ...

Intrahepatic nitric oxide (NO) production is decreased in cirrhotic livers. Our objective was to identify, in cirrhotic rat livers, intrahepatic vascular segments where the deficit of NO facilitates the effect of vasoconstrictors. By using a modified rat liver perfusion system with measurement of both the perfusion and sinusoidal (wedged hepatic vein) pressures, we studied the effect of the NO ...

BACKGROUND The clinical relevance of phlegmonous colitis (PC), a rare autopsy finding in cirrhotic patients, is poorly documented. We postulated that PC might be a source of sepsis in patients with portal hypertensive colopathy (PHC). CASE PRESENTATION We report three cirrhotic patients who were admitted with abdominal sepsis and who illustrate, to various degrees, the clinico-pathological se...

Background: Cirrhosis as the final stage of progressive fibrosis of liver can affect other organs such as lungs, kidneys and heart. "Cirrhotic cardiomyopathy" involves the electrophysiological abnormalities such as QT interval prolongation. We assessed correlation between corrected QT interval prolongation and severity of cirrhosis based on Child Classification in each ECG lead. ...

Hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) is defined as a failure of renal function, potentially reversible, in patients with liver cirrhosis and ascites. Recently, a component of cardiomyopathy associated with HRS was described, but the use of positive inotropic medicine as part of the treatment of the acute phase has not been extensively evaluated. We report a second case in our hospital of a patient with H...

Objective: H.pylori infection increases the risk of peptic ulcer in cirrhotic patients. The role of H.pylori in inducing peptic ulcer disease in chronic liver disease patients remains controversial. The objective was to see if etiology of peptic ulcer in cirrhotic patients is related to H.pylori infection. Methodology: Sixty cirrhotic patients were enrolled in the study. Peptic ulcer was detect...

BACKGROUND In animal models of cirrhosis, altered activity of nitric oxide (NO) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of increased intrahepatic portal vascular resistance and abnormal mesenteric vasodilatation. AIMS To investigate NO activity in the liver and splanchnic vascular bed of patients with cirrhosis. METHODS Activity of the calcium dependent constitutive and calcium independent ...

Hepatocellular carcinoma develops in either chronically injured or seemingly intact livers. To explore the tumorigenic mechanisms underlying these different conditions, we compared the mRNA expression profiles of mouse hepatocellular tumors induced by the repeated injection of CCl4 or a single diethylnitrosamine (DEN) injection using a cDNA microarray. We identified tumor-associated genes that ...

The aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical usefulness of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-Pro BNP) and nitric oxide (NO) with echocardiography (gold standard test) in diagnosis of canine cardiomyopathy. Out of 374 cases, 82 cases showing cardiovascular abnormalities including 16 cases of cardiomyopathy were further selected for standardization of biomarkers. Significant (P

Somatic mutations activating telomerase reverse-trancriptase promoter were recently identified in several tumour types. Here we identify frequent similar mutations in human hepatocellular carcinomas (59%), cirrhotic preneoplastic macronodules (25%) and hepatocellular adenomas with malignant transformation in hepatocellular carcinomas (44%). In hepatocellular tumours, telomerase reverse-transcri...