Nicotinic acid (NA) administration in Gilbert's syndrome (GS) patients promotes an increment of bilirubin and of total iron serum levels, dependent on a defective hepatic bilitranslocase function and on a haemolytic effect of NA. In porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT): (1) the effect of nicotinic acid on bilirubinaemia is superimposable to that in controls; (2) a well documented disturbance of iron metabolism occurs; (3) but relationship between bilirubin and iron under NA load has never been investigated. The administration of 5.9 mumol/kg body weight of NA to 12 PCT patients, 10 GS subjects and nine healthy volunteers of comparable age resulted in: (1) normal behaviour of bilirubin parameters in PCT but higher bilirubinaemic values in GS subjects; (2) normal values of serum iron in GS subjects, but higher baseline values and lower sideraemic effect of nicotinic acid in PCT patients; (3) a normal NA half-life in PCT and enhanced in GS subjects. These findings confirm a defective bilirubin uptake and excretion by the liver of GS subjects with a normal iron metabolism. On the contrary, in our PCT patients a normal clearance of bilirubin occurs, but a complex disturbance of iron metabolism is well evident in baseline conditions as well as after NA administration. The latter being probably the consequence of an enhanced excretion of iron extraproduced by the haemolytic effect of NA.
3rd UEGWOslo 1994 RNA positive, were negative by anti-Cl 00-3, but all were positive by anti-HCV 11.One hundred thirty four (93.7%) patients proven anti-HCV 11 positive, were all positive by HCV-RNA.But 9 (6.3%) patients who were proven HCV-RNA negative, were positive by anti-HCV 11.We determined the genotype of these 9 patients and found that 3 patients had type ll, one patient had type IV and the remaining 5 were again negative in this test.Conclusions: (1) Anti-HCV II was more sensitive and specific than the anti- C100-3, and was available for screening of chronic HCV infection.Detecting HCV-RNA was not practically useful in screening chronic infection. (2)In a small number of patients with genotype IlIl or IV, HCV-RNA could not be detected by RT-PCR using primers for the 5' non-coding region.If chronic hepatitis C patients are HCV-RNA negative but anti-HCV 11 positive, we can assume that the genotype of some of them are IlIl or IV 1058
AbstractThe potential use of 5-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAMe) as therapy for human porphyria cutanea tarda was investigated in an experimental model of hepatic porphyria—that is, chronic treatment of female rats with 0.2% hexachlorobenzene (HCB) in the diet. Administration of SAMe (25 mg/kg subcutaneously twice daily) during the last 15 days of HCB administration halved porphyrin accumulation in the liver but did not alter HCB-induced massive inhibition of uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase. Equally unaffected were inhibition of glutathione peroxidase and stimulation of lipid peroxide formation induced by HCB. Hypothetically, the beneficial effect of SAMe on hepatic porphyrin accumulation might be linked to modifications of the cellular availability of adenosine triphosphate.Key Words: 5-Adenosyl-L-methionineglutathione peroxidasehexachlorobenzeneliverporphyriaporphyrinsuroporphyrinogen decarboxylase
