Dermal fibroblasts have different extracellular matrix profiles induced by TGF-β, PDGF and IL-6 in a model for skin fibrosis.

Different stimulants might induce different extracellular matrix profiles. It is essential to gain an understanding and quantification of these changes to allow for focused anti-fibrotic drug development. This study investigated the expression of extracellular matrix by dermal fibroblast mimicking fibrotic skin diseases as SSc using clinically validated biomarkers.

Genetic and environmental factors as predictors of disease severity and extent at time of diagnosis in an inception cohort of inflammatory bowel disease, Copenhagen County and City 2003-2005.

Background And Aims: The etiology of the inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) remains unknown. We aimed to investigate the influence of genetic, serological, and environmental factors on phenotypic presentation of IBD at diagnosis in a population-based Danish inception cohort from 2003-2005.

Methods: Three-hundred-forty-seven (62%) of 562 cohort patients were genotyped.

The value of plasma acetaminophen half-life in antidote-treated acetaminophen overdosage.

Background: A plasma acetaminophen (INN, paracetamol) half-life of more than 4 hours has been correlated with hepatotoxicity in acetaminophen overdosing not treated with an antidote. Acetaminophen half-life has not been studied in patients receiving the antidote N -acetylcysteine.

Methods: Prospectively, 112 patients with acetaminophen overdosage all treated with intravenous N -acetylcysteine were studied.

Influence of acute and chronic alcohol intake on the clinical course and outcome in acetaminophen overdose.

Background: Animal studies on acetaminophen toxicity suggest that chronic alcohol intake affects the outcome adversely, whereas acute alcohol intake seems protective. Few clinical data are available.

Methods: We studied 209 consecutive patients with single-dose acetaminophen overdose.

Increased turnover of Gc-globulin in patients with hepatic encephalopathy.

Background: A low serum level (< 100 mg/L) of the actin-scavenger Gc-globulin is a prognostic marker of non-survival in fulminant hepatic failure (FHF). It is unknown whether decreased production or increased consumption (or both) is responsible for the low Gc-globulin levels.

Methods: Ten patients with FHF and four patients with acute or chronic liver disease (AOCLD) with hepatic encephalopathy (HE) grades II-IV were included.

Temporal profile of total, bound, and free Gc-globulin after acetaminophen overdose.

Low admission values of the actin scavenger Gc-globulin are associated with an adverse outcome in acetaminophen (paracetamol) overdose. This prospective longitudinal study including 84 patients with acetaminophen overdose characterizes the temporal profile of Gc-globulin during the entire length of hospitalization. Serum Gc-globulin (total, actin bound, and free) levels and actin-complex ratio were measured on admission and every 12 hours until discharge.

Liver and gut mucosa acetylation of mesalazine in healthy volunteers.

Aim: The aim of this investigation was to identify which part of a dose mesalazine is acetylated by enzymes in the gut wall during the absorption process, and which part by the liver enzymes after absorption.

Method: This study was based on data from four bioequivalence studies of different formulations of tablets (gastro-resistant single dose 500 mg (n = 24) and prolonged-release tablets (single dose 1000 mg, n = 18; multiple dose 1000 mg t.i.

Prediction of hepatic encephalopathy in paracetamol overdose: a prospective and validated study.

Background: Paracetamol overdose may cause hepatic encephalopathy (HE). This condition demands specialized care and, in some instances, liver transplantation evaluation. No model is available for predicting HE.

Reconstitution of the actin-scavenger system after orthotopic liver transplantation for end-stage liver disease: a prospective and longitudinal study.

Serum levels of the actin scavenger Gc-globulin (group-specific component, vitamin D-binding protein), a member of the albumin multigene family, are decreased in severe liver disease but have not been evaluated in relation to liver transplantation. We measured Gc-globulin and Gc-globulin-actin complex ratio daily for 2 weeks after transplantation in 17 patients with end-stage liver disease. Before transplantation, Gc-globulin levels were significantly less in the patients than in healthy controls (235 +/- 106 v 340 +/- 35 mg/L, respectively; P<.

Serum Gc-globulin in the early course of multiple trauma.

Objectives: In patients with multiple trauma, actin released from damaged cells may cause severe circulatory disturbance due to thrombi formation. The aim of this study was to evaluate serum concentrations of the actin scavenger, Gc-globulin, in relation to the severity of injury and outcome.

Design: Prospective, longitudinal, observational study.

Reduced serum Gc-globulin concentrations in patients with fulminant hepatic failure: association with multiple organ failure.

Objective: To evaluate the association between admission serum concentrations of the actin-scavenger, Gc-globulin, and the subsequent development of multiple organ failure in patients with fulminant hepatic failure.

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: A hepatologic intensive care unit.

The Nordic multicenter double-blind randomized controlled trial of prophylactic ursodeoxycholic acid in liver transplant patients.

Background: Prophylactic treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) has been reported to reduce the incidence of acute rejection after liver transplantation compared with historical controls. We investigated this in a prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled multicenter study.

Methods: Fifty-four liver transplant patients were allocated to the UDCA treatment group (15 mg/kg/day), and 48 patients were allocated to the placebo group.

[Gc-globulin in paracetamol poisoning].

Gc-globulin scavenges actin liberated from necrotic cells. We measured serum Gc-globulin and the degree of complexing with monomeric actin (complex ratio) in the initial phase of paracetamol (acetaminophen) intoxication and related this to the severity of liver necrosis and the clinical course. In eighteen patients with paracetamol intoxication serial measurements of serum Gc-globulin and complex ratio were determined from admission and every three hours thereafter.

Admission levels of serum Gc-globulin: predictive value in fulminant hepatic failure.

Gc-globulin scavenges actin released from necrotic hepatocytes to the extracellular space. In 77 patients with fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) (excluding patients treated with liver transplantation), admission levels of serum Gc-globulin and degree of complexing with monomeric actin (complex ratio) were determined to evaluate their predictive values in relation to survival/nonsurvival. Gc-globulin levels were significantly reduced in 47 nonsurvivors, compared with 30 survivors (96 +/- 71 mg/L vs.

Omeprazole in the long-term treatment of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. A double-blind randomized dose-finding study.

Background: Omeprazole is effective in the treatment of reflux oesophagitis, and it is important to determine the lower dose limit with still appropriate clinical efficacy.

Methods: Patients with endoscopic oesophagitis grade 1-4 (N = 220) were randomized to double-blind treatment with 20 mg or 40 mg omeprazole daily for 4-8 weeks. Those healed after this initial treatment phase were re-randomized to double-blind treatment with 20 mg omeprazole daily (n = 67), 10 mg omeprazole daily (n = 68), or placebo (n = 33) for 6 months.

[Poisoning by green and white mushrooms at a special hepatology unit, 1989-1994].

In the period 1989-1994 eight patients, who were intoxicated with the mushrooms Amanita phalloides (death cap) or Amanita virosa (deadly agaric) were treated at a Department of Hepatology. All patients had had a symptom free period of more than eight hours before the onset of gastrointestinal symptoms; these symptoms lasting in many cases for several days. All patients had biochemical signs of hepatocellular damage and three patients developed hepatic encephalopathy, fulfilling the criteria for fulminant hepatic failure (FHF).

Serial measurements of serum Gc-globulin in acetaminophen intoxication.

Objectives: To describe serum Gc-globulin and the extent to which it complexes with monomeric actin in the initial phase of acetaminophen (Paracetamol) intoxication and to relate this to the severity of liver necrosis and the clinical course.

Patients And Methods: Serial measurements of Gc-globulin and the proportion of Gc-globulin complexed to G-actin (complex ratio) were made on admission and every 3 h thereafter in eighteen consecutive patients with acetaminophen intoxication. Eight patients developed hepatic encephalopathy (HE) and two died.

Oxidative DNA damage after transplantation of the liver and small intestine in pigs.

Oxidative damage is thought to play an important role in ischemia/reperfusion injury, including the outcome of transplantation of the liver and intestine. We have investigated oxidative DNA damage after combined transplantation of the liver and small intestine in 5 pigs. DNA damage was estimated from the urinary excretion of the repair product 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG).

Serum immunoglobulin G subclasses in patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease of different disease activities.

Background: Different concentrations of immunoglobulin G (IgG) subclass-producing cells in the mucosa of patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease have previously been described.

Methods: To evaluate serum concentration of IgG subclasses as a tool for diagnosis and disease activity in chronic inflammatory bowel disease, we compared serum concentrations of IgG, IgA, IgM, and immunoglobulin subclasses IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, and IgG4 by means of the radial immunodiffusion technique in 66 patients with ulcerative colitis and in 68 patients with Crohn's disease of different clinical stages. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, haemoglobin, and serum concentrations of albumin and orosomucoid were also determined.

Cerebral blood flow velocity during high volume plasmapheresis in fulminant hepatic failure.

High volume plasmapheresis has previously been found to improve neurological statuses in patients with fulminant hepatic failure. We investigated the relationship between the neurological status and cerebral blood flow velocity (Vmean) during high volume plasmapheresis in 18 consecutive patients (ten females and eight males) with fulminant hepatic failure, with a mean age of 43 (range 9 to 57) years. The mean arterial pressure (MAP) and intracranial pressure (ICP) were also recorded.

Identification of oxidation products of 5-aminosalicylic acid in faeces and the study of their formation in vitro.

The formation of three oxidant-derived products of 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) in vivo was demonstrated in patients with active ulcerative colitis as well as in healthy subjects. The products were isolated from faeces by preparative HPLC and their chemical structures were found to be oxidation products of 5-ASA using 1H-NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Reactions carried out in vitro between 5-ASA and oxidants suggested to be present in the inflamed bowel verified that the hypochlorite-mediated oxidation of 5-ASA as well as the haemoglobin-catalysed H2O2-dependent oxidation of 5-ASA resulted in the formation of a single oxidation product of 5-ASA.

Pharmacokinetics of 5-aminosalicylic acid in man following administration of intravenous bolus and per os slow-release formulation.

The fate of 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA), which is used in the treatment of chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, was studied in six healthy volunteers receiving doses of 100 mg and 250 mg intravenous bolus as well as 250 mg per os (slow release). Following intravenous administration, the drug was rapidly eliminated with a plasma half-life of about 40 min, mainly due to rapid metabolism. No parent drug was recovered in feces, and the total recovery following oral administration (30%) was significantly lower than following the intravenous doses (77% and 72%).