Changes in cellular proliferation and plasma products are associated with liver failure.

Aim: To study the differences in immune response and cytokine profile between acute liver failure and self-limited acute hepatitis.

Methods: Forty-six patients with self-limited acute hepatitis (AH), sixteen patients with acute liver failure (ALF), and twenty-two healthy subjects were involved in this study. The inflammatory and anti-inflammatory products in plasma samples were quantified using commercial enzyme-linked immunoassays and quantitative real-time PCR.

Activated lymphocytes and high liver expression of IFN-γ are associated with fulminant hepatic failure in patients.

Background & Aims: To study immunological mechanisms of fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) derived from extensive liver lesions, 14 patients with FHF induced by different aetiologies were investigated by observance of both lymphocyte phenotyping and cytokine levels.

Methods: Five patients bearing benign acute hepatitis B (AHB) and seven healthy liver donors (HC) were used as controls. Samples of liver and blood from both FHF patients and HC were obtained during transplantation procedures.

Fulminant hepatitis failure in adults and children from a Public Hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) is characterized by massive hepatocellular injury, whose physiopathology is still unclear. Hepatitis B (HBV) is probably the most common viral cause of FHF, while hepatitis A (HAV) virus seem occurs less frequently. However, the host and viral factors that determine the outcome of these infections are poorly understood.