[Changes of liver function in patients with serious acute respiratory syndrome].

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the changes of liver function during the course of serious acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and to explore its possible influence factors. METHODS: There were 91 patients with common SARS, and 23 patients with severe SARS, and 61 common pneumonia patients served as the controls. The liver functions of all the patients were measured. RESULTS: The rate of anomaly liver function in the common SARS patients group was 68.1%, which was higher than that in the common pneumonia patients group (24.6%), chi2=27.7, P<0.01. The changes mainly existed in the mild to moderate elevation of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase. The severe SARS patients were older and the changing rate of liver function was as high as 95.7%. CONCLUSIONS: The damage possibility of liver function in SARS patients is higher than that in common pneumonia patients. The damage is light and related to SARS itself. The damage of liver function in the severe SARS patients may have close relationship with age.

Tumor necrosis factor--alpha gene promoter polymorphisms in Chinese patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases.

BACKGROUND: Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) encompasses a histopathological spectrum of clinical conditions such as simple fatty liver (steatosis), nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and a variant that has degrees of fibrosis. Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-alphalpha) is considered essential for NAFLD. Therefore, we investigated the correlation between TNF-alphalpha gene promoter polymorphism and NAFLD in this human study. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The TNF-alpha gene polymorphisms at position -238 and -308 were analyzed in 189 Chinese patients with NAFLD and 138 healthy controls by using polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism assay. The serum levels of TNF-alpha in both patient and control groups were measured by ELISA. The associations of TNF-alpha polymorphism and serum TNF-alpha, and/or insulin resistance, and/or clinical features were analyzed. RESULTS: The carrier frequencies of TNF-alpha gene polymorphism with G/A mutation at -238 were significantly higher in the patients with NAFLD than those in the control subjects (p < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences between the NAFLD patients and control subjects in the polymorphisms at -308 (p > 0.05). In addition, the serum level of TNF-alpha was markedly higher in the patients with NAFLD than in the control subjects (p < 0.05). There were significant associations between TNF-alpha gene polymorphism in the -238 A allele and increased serum TNF-alpha, insulin resistance, as well as increased body mass index in the NAFLD patients. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that the TNF-alpha gene polymorphism at position -238 is associated with susceptibility of nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in a Chinese population.