Assessment of Selected Parameters of Liver Fibrosis and Inflammation in Patients with Diagnosed Cystic Fibrosis.

Changes in the liver and bile ducts observed in patients diagnosed with cystic fibrosis result from inflammatory processes as well as fibrosis, remodeling, apoptosis, and cholestasis. As a consequence, portal hypertension, cirrhosis, and hepatic failure may develop. So far, the complexity of these processes has not been elucidated. Study Objectives. The aim of the study was to evaluate the selected parameters of hepatitis and fibrosis (Fibrotest, Actitest, and APRI) in patients diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. Material and Methods. The study included 79 patients with cystic fibrosis, aged 1 to 20 years (mean age 9.8 years), 49 girls (62%) and 30 boys (38%). The analysis involved the following: age, sex, clinical manifestations, laboratory tests evaluating pancreas function, parameters of liver damage, and cholestasis. Fibrotest, Actitest, and APRI were performed in all subjects. Results. Elevated parameters of hepatic cell damage (hypertransaminasemia) were found in 31/79 (39.2%) patients, while abnormal cholestasis parameters in 21/79 (26.6%). The abnormal results of Fibrotest were reported in 15% of patients (12/79), while of Actitest in 10% (8/79). In contrast, elevated APRI values were found in only 7.6% (6/79) of subjects. There was a statistically significant correlation between APRI and age (higher values were observed in younger children) and between Fibrotest and Actitest and pancreatic insufficiency (higher values were found in subjects without this abnormality). Moreover, Fibrotest values were significantly higher in girls. There was no correlation between Fibrotest, Actitest, and APRI values and the type of mutation. Conclusion. It appears that Fibrotest may be used as an early marker of liver fibrosis in patients with cystic fibrosis. Increased APRI values were only found in subjects with advanced hepatic lesions, most often in the form of portal hypertension.

Effect of obstructive jaundice on neutrophil chemotactic activity: an in vivo assessment in zymosan-induced peritonitis model in rats.

The effect of obstructive jaundice on local neutrophil accumulation in response to inflammatory stimulus was investigated in rats. Obstructive jaundice was produced by bile duct ligation for 7 days. Zymosan (200 mg) was injected intraperitoneally and 4h later myeloperoxidase activity in the peritoneal fluid was measured to quantify neutrophil recruitment. Zymosan-induced neutrophil recruitment was significantly greater (more than two-fold) in bile duct-ligated rats than in sham-ligated or normal animals. Depletion of peritoneal cells significantly suppressed neutrophil recruitment after zymosan injection in all three groups, with no significant differences between the groups. In normal rats, replacement of their peritoneal cells by those from bile duct-ligated rats did not enhance zymosan-induced neutrophil recruitment. In contrast, bile duct-ligated rats treated with peritoneal cell replacement from normals showed significantly increased neutrophil recruitment after zymosan injection. In vitro neutrophil chemotaxis in response to formyl-Met-Leu-Phe was significantly enhanced in bile duct-ligated rats, compared with that in sham-ligated animals. The results suggest that local neutrophil recruitment in response to inflammation may be enhanced in obstructive jaundice and that increased neutrophil chemotactic activity, not macrophage activity, may play a prime role in the mechanism.

[Nutritional and immunological assessment in patients with malignant obstructive jaundice--the influence of preoperative biliary decompression and abdominal surgery].

A clinical study was undertaken to evaluate the nutritional and immunological status of patients with malignant obstructive jaundice with serum bilirubin level of 5mg/dl or greater (N = 22). Healthy volunteers (N = 9) and patients with cholecystolithiasis (N = 26) were assessed as non-icteric control, as well as patients with obstructive jaundice due to choledocholithiasis (N = 3) were used as icteric control. We also evaluated the time-course of five patients with malignant obstructive jaundice before and after PTCD and surgery. Nutritional status was assessed by prognostic nutritional index (PNI), blood chemistry and rapid turnover protein. Cellular and humoral immunity were assessed by peripheral lymphocyte count, lymphocyte stimulation test, antibody dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity, and serum immunoglobulins. The following results were obtained. 1) Nutritional and immunological status of patients with malignant obstructive jaundice were severely depressed. 2) Nutritional and immunological status were not improved by preoperative biliary decompression such as PTCD. 3) The immunological indices recovered postoperatively. However, the nutritional indices did not recover by the time of discharge. Intensive nutritional support before and after surgery may be mandatory for patients with malignant obstructive jaundice.

[The comprehensive assessment of the degree of severity of their condition in patients with mechanical jaundice]. / Kompleksnaia otsenka stepeni tiazhesti sostoianiia bol'nykh s mekhanicheskoi zheltukhoi.

The authors examined 42 patients with obstructive jaundice of various severity. Comparison of the findings of radiohepatography with intoxication values according to the medium-weight molecule test and the biochemical parameters revealed statistically significant differences of some quantitative indices depending of the severity of jaundice. The results of the study made it possible to recommend the use of the values of blood clearance, time of maximum accumulation of a radiopharmacological agent in the liver, hepatic and blood retention index, and the medium-weight molecule test for objective quantitative appraisal of the severity of obstructive jaundice. Study of the time course of changes of the above parameters showed that normalization of hepatic function in resolving jaundice begins only from the second week after decompression of the biliary tract, which must be borne in mind in choosing the optimal time for the operation.