BACKGROUND An isoleucine>methionine mutation at position 148 in the PNPLA3 gene (p.I148M, rs738409) has recently been identified as a susceptibility factor for liver damage in steatohepatitis. Here, we studied whether the PNPLA3 rs738409 polymorphism also affects predisposition to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS We compared distributions of PNPLA3 genotypes in 80 and 81 Caucasian pati...

In previous studies, the relationship between aspartate aminotransferase to alanine aminotransferase ratio(AST/ALT ratio) and liver disease has been evaluated. In viral hepatitis, alcoholic liver disease and primary biliary cirrhosis, AST/ALT ratio has been proven to be an indicator of liver cirrhosis.1-3 AST/ALT ratio was a potential value in differentiating nonalcoholic steatohepatitis from a...

BACKGROUND Alcoholic hepatitis is associated with altered hepatic artery hemodynamics. Maddrey's discriminant function (MDF) can identify patients with poor prognosis (DF >32). We studied hepatic artery hemodynamic parameters of hepatic artery diameter (HAD), resistive index (RI) and pulsatility index (PI) in severe acute alcoholic hepatitis (SAAH) and for the presence of correlation of paramet...

The prevalences of 10 HLA-A and 16 HLA-B antigens were determined in 50 patients with alcoholic cirrhosis and 120 alcoholic patients without cirrhosis and compared with those in a control group of 550 healthy subjects from the same geographical area. B40 was absent in the patients with cirrhosis but was found in 18 (15%) of the patients without cirrhosis (p = 0.0087). No other association was n...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Alcoholic cirrhosis remains a controversial indication for liver transplantation, mainly because of ethical considerations related to the shortage of donor livers. The aim of this study was to review experience to date, focusing on survival rates and complications, and the effect of alcohol relapse on outcome and alterations in marital and socioprofessional status. METHODS The...

Ethane exhalation was measured in 42 control subjects, 52 patients with various non-alcoholic liver diseases, and 89 alcohol abusers who had been admitted to hospital for alcohol withdrawal and assessment of liver disease (six with normal liver tests, 10 with steatosis with or without fibrosis, six with alcoholic hepatitis, 29 with cirrhosis, 34 with both cirrhosis and alcoholic hepatitis, and ...

BACKGROUND & AIMS Environmental and genetic factors contribute to alcoholic cirrhosis onset. In particular, age at exposure to liver stressors has been shown to be important in progression to fibrosis in hepatitis C individuals. However, no definite data on the role of age at onset of at-risk alcohol consumption are available. Moreover, patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing protein 3 (PN...

Aztreonam was administered as a single, 3-min, 1-g intravenous infusion to 18 subjects, including 6 with biopsy-proven, primary biliary cirrhosis, 6 with biopsy-proven, stable alcoholic cirrhosis, and 6 age- and sex-matched control subjects with normal hepatic functions. Aztreonam was well tolerated by all subjects. Multiple blood samples and timed, cumulative urine samples were taken for assay...

BACKGROUND   Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is an important contributor to the total burden of alcohol-related harm; however, the morbidity of different types of ALD in Australia has not been described. The aim of this study was to investigate recent trends in hospital admission rates among alcoholic liver cirrhosis, alcoholic hepatic failure and alcoholic hepatitis in Australia, as well as the ...

The prognoses of patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis were compared between those who continued to drink and those who stopped. Clinical criteria were strictly set so as to control other variables affecting the prognoses. Four-year survival was significantly higher in the patients who stopped drinking than in those who continued to drink. Continued drinking worsens the prognosis of patients ...