[Nicotinamide in combined treatment of chronic pancreatitis].

Aim: To evaluate effects of nicotinamide on insulin secretion in glucose tolerance test and on blood clotting in patients with chronic pancreatitis (CP).

Materials And Methods: 30 patients with CP of alcoholic etiology received combined treatment with enzyme medicines. In addition, some of them were administered nicotinamide as 2.

[Activities of glutathione enzymes in liver biopsy specimens in chronic lesions of hepatocytes].

The nonenzymatic conjugation of metabolites is decreased in chronic diseases of the liver, which is caused by decreased concentration of glutathione. The activities of glutathione enzymes are increased, this indicating the development of compensatory processes of mobilization of the second phase of detoxication, that is, increased conjugation under conditions of suppression of the cytochrome P-450 system. Measurement of liver glutathione transferase is a highly informative test for assessing the activity of the pathological process, particularly important in patients with chronic active hepatitis and cirrhosis of the liver.

[Cholestasis assessment by activity of antioxidant enzymes and composition of plasma lipoproteins in patients with liver diseases].

Aim: Investigation of activity of copper-containing enzymes in plasma superoxide dismutase (SOD) and ceruloplasmin (CP) in comparison with concentrations of lipoproteins (LP) of the main classes in patients with chronic hepatic diseases (CHD).

Materials And Methods: SOD activity, CP and LP in plasma were measured in 90 patients with CHD.

Results: An inverse relationship was found between SOD activity and CP content in CHD.

[Cytochrome P-450-dependent hydroxylation and activity of glutathione-dependent liver enzymes in chronic liver diseases].

Repression of cytochrom P-450-dependent hydroxylation and demethylation in liver was demonstrated in bioptats of patients with chronic liver diseases. The inhibition of cytochrome P450 system was provoked by oxidative modification of proteins-enzymes in patients with chronic liver changes as was proposed at the same time. The activation of glutathione-dependent enzymes was revealed.

[The clinical significance of the liver glutathione system in chronic lesions].

It is shown that chronic hepatobiliary pathology is associated with a fall in spontaneous metabolite conjugation related to reduced concentration of hepatic glutathione. There was also enhanced activity of glutathione-dependent enzymes. This indicates progress of compensatory processes associated with mobilization of detoxication phase 2, i.

[Cytotoxic action of active forms of oxygen and mechanisms of development of a chronic process in the liver in liver disease].

The paper deals with the damaging action of active oxygen forms (AOF) on the cell, which is associated with impairments of membranous structures and their functional properties. Based on the results of their own investigations, the authors forward a concept of the stereotypic pattern of changes in the enzyme mechanisms of AOF utilization in chronic hepatic diseases of viral etiology. It is suggested that impaired hepatocytic AOF formation and inactivation may be metabolic mechanisms mediating the status and development of a chronic process in the liver in its viral damage.

[Active forms of oxygen: cytotoxic effects and methodological approaches to laboratory control of liver lesions (literature review)].

The injurious effects of active oxygen forms (AOF) on the cell caused by destruction of its membranous structures and impairment of their functional characteristics are discussed. Disorders of the processes of formation and inactivation of AOF in hepatocytes may be the metabolic mechanisms mediating the status and development of the pathological process in the liver. The problem of prospective approaches to assessing chronic diseases of the liver at the level of "free-radical pathology" is discussed.

[Clinical significance of gel electrophoresis of blood lipoproteins in primary biliary cirrhosis].

Gel electrophoresis was used for separation of lipoproteins of the blood sera in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) of the liver and cholelithiasis. Increased level of beta-lipoproteins in parallel with a reduction of total alpha- and pre-beta-lipoproteins were revealed in patients with PBC, these shifts being more expressed at later stages of the disease. An appreciable increase of beta- to alpha-lipoprotein ratio in PBC was observed.

[Features of insulin secretion and thromboelastography values in chronic pancreatitis].

The function of pancreatic beta-cells in patients with chronic pancreatitis is insufficient, which manifests by hyposecretion of basal and stimulated insulin into the blood. Moreover, blood-clotting activity is increased in chronic pancreatitis. A conclusion is made that timely prevention of exacerbations of this disease should include laboratory check-ups of insulin production and assessment of blood coagulation in the patients.

[Activity of blood antioxidant enzymes in chronic liver damage].

Patients with chronic hepatic disease have higher superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and lower erythrocytic glutathione levels. There was a decrease in plasma SOD activity in cirrhosis, a feedback between the dismutase and oxidase activities of ceruloplasmin in cholestatic damages to the liver. Drug therapy resulted in positive dynamics in the levels of SOD, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione, ceruloplasmin, which is likely to be associated with the control of the enzymatic mechanisms of antioxidative protection.

[Cytochrome P-450-dependent hydroxylation in liver tissue of patients with hepatobiliary diseases].

Chronic diseases of the liver were found to be associated with microsomal hydroxylation reactions inhibition, this inhibition depending on the disease activity and stage. Chronic cholestatic hepatitis and primary biliary cirrhosis are associated with a more marked suppression of these reactions, the degree of inhibition being in proportion with the cholestatic syndrome severity. Demethylation process was found inhibited in active liver cirrhosis and primary biliary cirrhosis.

[The clinical significance of the enzymatic system utilizing active forms of oxygen in chronic liver diseases].

The activity of antioxidant defense enzymes and lipid peroxidation (LPO) was studied in the liver and blood of 126 patients with hepatobiliary diseases. The activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase in the liver appeared inhibited and relevant interactions impaired. Catalase/peroxidase value in hepatic cirrhosis proved minimal.

[Intracellular oxygen activation and molecular mechanisms of oxidative hepatic damage].

The paper deals with the mechanisms responsible for formation of active oxygen forms and with the physiological and toxic aspects of their action on the cell. The active oxygen forms are essential biological energy metabolites, such as mitochondrial respiration and microsomal oxidation. It considers the specific features of the systems of APA by various cells (neutrophils, lymphocytes, fibroblasts, endothelial cells).

[A new approach to the diagnosis of cholestasis by the activity of copper-containing enzymes].

A reciprocal type of the relationship between superoxide dismutase (SOD) and hepatic ceruloplasmin levels in the liver and plasma has been demonstrated. This acts as an integrating mechanism of antioxidant resistance in hepatobiliary diseases. The value of SOD/ceruloplasmin ratio is presented which was low in primary biliary cirrhosis and chronic cholestatic hepatitis.

[Antioxidant liver enzymes in chronic liver disease].

Biopsy of the liver of 73 patients with chronic affection of the hepatobiliary system was conducted to study the enzymatic system of inactivation of the active forms of hepatic oxygen according to the stage of the chronic process. Reduced activity of superoxide dismutase and catalase and disruption of their relationship in chronic active hepatitis were revealed. Significantly diminished rate of inactivation of superoxide radicals was encountered in fibrosis and primary biliary cirrhosis.

[Enzyme system for dismutation of active forms of oxygen in the liver during chronic impairment of the hepatobiliary system].

A decrease in activity of main enzymes responsible for inactivation of reactive intermediates of oxygen was found in patients with chronic impairments of liver tissue. In chronic active hepatitis superoxide dismutase and catalase activities were decreased, while more pronounced alterations in the enzymatic activity were observed in primary biliary cirrhosis. Alterations in the rate of antioxidation enzymes activity correlated with severity of pathological process: less distinct alterations in superoxide dismutase and catalase activities were detected in adipose degeneration of liver tissue as compared with those in active chronic hepatitis, and, especially, in primary biliary cirrhosis.

[Determination of the superoxide dismutase activity in puncture biopsy specimens of the liver in chronic liver diseases].

Analysis of liver biopsy specimens from patients with chronic active hepatitis has shown reduced superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase activities. More profound changes were revealed in the patients with fibrosis, cirrhosis, and primary biliary cirrhosis. Suppressed activities of antioxidative enzymes and dissociation of their systemic interaction were found to be related to the pathologic process severity.

[Antioxidant activity of hepatotropic preparations in the treatment of chronic diseases of the liver].

Hepatotropic drugs were shown to decrease blood lipid peroxidation activity (LPO) in patients with chronic diffuse liver diseases. A positive time course of LPO indices was noted in the treatment of chronic active hepatitis and liver cirrhosis of moderate activity. Comparison of antioxidant features of the drugs were suggestive of a noticeable effect of trophopar and essential in patients with chronic active hepatitis, trophopar in patients with liver lipodystrophy, and drugs of a silimarina series in patients with liver cirrhosis.

[Comparative study of zixoryn and phenobarbital as enzyme inducers of the liver mono-oxygenase system].

It has been shown in rat experiments that administration of zixoryn brings about an increase in the liver weight and the content of cytochromes P-450 and b5, and activates the aniline-hydroxylase reaction. The induction activity pattern of zixoryn is similar to that of phenobarbital-type inducers. However, it is inferior to phenobarbital in the degree of activity and causes an atypically dramatic increment of the content of cytochrome b5.

[Lipid peroxidation of the liver in liver disease].

Material of puncture biopsy of the human liver left after morphological study was used to explore enzymatic and non-enzymatic lipid peroxidation, NADH-ferricyanide reductase activity, the content of triglycerides, cholesterol and protein. It was shown that the degree of lipid peroxidation varies considerably in different liver diseases. The highest degree of lipid peroxidation was discovered in patients with fibrosis accompanied by the symptoms of fatty dystrophy.

[Activity of microsomal enzymes and lipid peroxidation in the liver in galactosamine injury].

Galactosamine injury of rat liver brings about induction of microsomal oxidation enzymes after 24 hours. Such a conclusion may be arrived at on the basis of an analysis of variation in the activity of cytochrome P-450, cytochrome b5, and NADH ferricyanide reductase while comparing normal and galactosamine-treated rats. In vitro galactosamine leads to activation of enzymatic lipid peroxidation.