Clinico-biologic aspects and evolutive tendencies in sacroiliitis.

A group of 103 patients with radiologic changes of sacroiliitis were investigated and followed up over a mean period of 3.5 years. The biologic explorations (nonspecific inflammatory tests, humoral immunologic determinations and serum fibronectin assay) as well as sacroiliac and spine radiographic examinations, were repeated every 6th-12th months. In 32 patients (31%) clinical, biologic and radiologic signs of evolutive disease, were detected. In such cases, sacroiliitis representing in fact a form of onset of ankylosing spondylitis, the HLA-B27 phenotype was also determined and was found present in 8 cases. Of the biologic tests the decrease of serum fibronectin proved the most significantly correlated with evolutive tendency of sacroiliitis.

[The effect of withdrawal on humoral and cellular immune changes in alcoholic hepatopathy]. / Studiu privind influenta sevrajului asupra modificarilor imune umorale si celulare din hepatopatia alcoolica.

In 24 patients with alcoholic hepatopathy (HA) the long-time (two years) influence--induced by the alcohol withdrawal (16 patients) or continuation (8 patients)--on the immunological, humoral and cellular modifications was followed. An important improvement of the immunological disorders, mainly the cellular ones, in the weaned patients was noticed: the increase of T lymphocytes with "reestablishment" of the T lymphocyte subsets equilibrium by increasing the T1 subpopulation--s/c: the decrease of the active T lymphocytes and of the B lymphocyte population. These changes led to humoral immune improvement. In the non-withdrawal patients, the immunological disorders continued and became even worse.

Variations in humoral and cellular immunologic changes in relation to the evolutive stage of chronic active liver disease.

The humoral immune changes (of Ig, CIC, C3) and the cellular ones (T lymphocytes with the T1, T2, Ta subpopulations and B lymphocytes) have been followed up for a mean period of 36 months in 22 patients with chronic active liver disease (CALD), of whom 11 with chronic active hepatitis and 11 with active liver cirrhosis. Thirteen of these patients received long term corticotherapy and 9 only a hepatotropic treatment. A comparison of the mean values of the immune parameters investigated in the active and in the remission stages has revealed an improvement of the immune disorders in the remission stages, both at humoral and cellular levels, more evident in the patients treated by corticotherapy.

The hepatic component in alcoholic encephalopathy.

In a group of 34 chronic alcohol addicts with neuropsychic manifestations--alcoholic encephalopathy (AE)--and 9 subjects with chronic non-alcoholic liver diseases, biochemical (ammonemia, pyruvicemia, lactacidemia), enzymatic (gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (gamma-GPT)) and morphological assays were carried out comparatively with conventional liver investigations. Alcoholic liver disease was found present in 16 patients (47%). A peculiar biochemical profile was observed in subjects with hepato-alcoholic encephalopathy: ammonemia 191.3 +/- 70.3 gamma %, pyruvicemia 2.7 +/- 0.82 mg %, lactacidemia 15.76 mg % and gamma-GPT 80.5 U/l, as compared with ammonemia 121 +/- 33.5 gamma %, pyruvicemia 2.74 +/- 1.2 mg %, lactacidemia 16.65 mg % and gamma-GPT 42.6 U/l in AE without hepatic disease, and in non-alcoholic liver diseases in which ammonemia was 88.6 gamma % (in chronic hepatitis) and 126.3 gamma % (in hepatic cirrhosis). Thus, coexisting involvement of the liver and presence of portal-systemic shunts in AE can be estimated by the assay of certain biochemical and enzymatic parameters.