From liver to hormones:The endocrine consequences of cirrhosis

Hepatocrinology explores the intricate relationship between liver function and the endocrine system.Chronic liver diseases such as liver cirrhosis can cause endocrine disorders due to toxin accumulation and protein synthesis disruption.Despite its importance,assessing endocrine issues in cirrhotic patients is frequently neglected.This article provides a comprehensive review of the epidemiology,pathophysiology,diagnosis,and treatment of endocrine disturbances in liver cirrhosis.The review was conducted using the PubMed/Medline,EMBASE,and Scielo databases,encompassing 172 articles.Liver cirrhosis is associated with endocrine disturbances,including diabetes,hypoglycemia,sarcopenia,thyroid dysfunction,hypogonadotropic hypogonadism,bone disease,adrenal insufficiency,growth hormone dysfunction,and secondary hyperaldosteronism.The optimal tools for diagnosing diabetes and detecting hypoglycemia are the oral glucose tolerance test and continuous glucose monitoring system,respectively.Sarcopenia can be assessed through imaging and functional tests,while other endocrine disorders are evaluated using hormonal assays and imaging studies.Treatment options include metformin,glucagon-like peptide-1 analogs,sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors,and insulin,which are effective and safe for diabetes control.Established standards are followed for managing hypoglycemia,and hormone replacement therapy is often necessary for other endocrine dysfunctions.Liver transplantation can address some of these problems.

Paget’s disease of bone: Report of 11 cases

BACKGROUND Paget’s disease of bone(PDB)is a rare metabolic bone disease in China and is characterized by increased bone resorption and disorganized bone formation.The main clinical symptoms of PDB are focal or multiple bone pain and deformity with high disability.The disease has high missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis rates.This report summarizes the clinical manifestations,imaging and pathological features,and treatments of 11 patients with PDB at our hospital from 1993 to 2020 in order to improve the recognition and prognosis of PDB.CASE SUMMARY There were eight male and three female patients whose average age was 48.7±11.0 years with a PDB course of 1-16 years.Nine patients had bone pain and bone deformities in different parts of the body,the majority of which involved the long bones.Laboratory examinations revealed elevated serum alkaline phosphatase(ALP)in all patients with an average of 618±460 IU/L(normal range 0-130 IU/L),and serum calcium and phosphorus levels were in the normal range.Imageology showed that osteolysis was usually combined with osteosclerosis and/or bone deformities in single or multiple bones.^(99m)Tc-methylene diphosphonate bone scintigraphy revealed increased radionuclide uptake in the bone lesions.Six patients underwent bone tissue biopsy,and the typical pathological changes were a mosaic structure of the bone trabeculae with irregularly arranged cement lines and multinuclear osteoclasts.Ten of the 11 patients were effectively treated with bisphosphonates.CONCLUSION Early diagnosis of the rare disease PDB can be made through elevated ALP levels and typical presentations on bone X-ray and from bone tissue biopsy.

Interleukin-1 gene polymorphism disease activity and bone mineral metabolism in rheumatoid arthritis

Objective To determine whether interleukin-1α and 1β gene polymorphism is associated with rheumatoid arthritis disease activity and bone mineral metabolism, and whether there is any relationship between IL-1β and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) motif gene. Methods IL-1 gene polymorphisms were analyzed in 65 RA patients who met American College of Radiology (ACR) criteria and 60 controls. From genomic DNA, 2 polymorphisms in each gene for IL1α-889 and IL-1β+3953 were typed by PCR-RFLP and HLA-DRB1 allele typing was also undertaken by PCR-SSOP. Some clinical and laboratory parameters were collected. The allelic frequencies and carriage rates were compared between RA patients and controls and between patients with active and quiescent disease. Comparison was also made between IL-1 polymorphism and parameters of bone mineral metabolism and between patients with the HLA-DRB1 RA motif plus IL-1β 2 and patients without the two alleles. Fisher test and the analysis of variance was used to analyze the data.Results There was no significant difference in the frequency and carriage rate of IL-1α polymorphisms between RA patients and the controls. The β2/2 genotype of IL-1β was more common in female RA patients compared with controls (P=0.001). A lower carriage rate of IL-1β 2 occurred in male RA patients (P=0.001). A higher carriage rate of IL-1α2 is associated with a higher ESR (P=0.008), HAQ score (P=0.03), and vit-D 3 (P【0.001), but conversely a lower SJC (p=0.002), a lower RF (P=0.002) and a lower BMD at the lumbar spine (P=0.001). A higher frequency of IL-1α1 is associated with a lower CRP value (P=0.009). An increased IL-1β2 carriage is associated with active rheumatoid disease as indicated by a higher CRP (P【0.001), ESR (P【0.001) and pain score (P=0.001) and a higher BMD at the lumbar spine (P=0.007), lower vit-D 3 and. Udpd/Crea level The presence of the HLA DRB1 RA motif and IL-1β allele 2 at same time did not contribute to disease activity.Conclution Polymorphisms of the IL-β gene may affect the RA occurrence. Carriage of IL-1β2 polymorphisms is associated with more active disease in RA and the presence of both the IL-1α2 and the IL-1β1 allele in RA influences bone resorption.

Primary Biliary Cirrhosis and Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis:a Review Featuring a Women's Health Perspective

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and primary sclerosing cho-langitis (PSC) are two major types of chronic cholestatic liver disease. Each disorder has distinguishing features and variable progression, but both may ultimately result in cirrhosis and hepatic failure. The following offers a review of PBC and PSC, beginning with a general overview of disease etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, clinical features, natural course, and treatment. In addition to commonly associated manifestations of fatigue, pruritus, and fat-soluble vitamin deficiency, select disease-related topics pertaining to women's health are discussed including metabolic bone disease, hyperlipidemia and cardiovascular risk, and preg-nancy-related issues influencing maternal disease course and birth outcomes. This comprehensive review of PBC and PSC highlights some unique clinical considerations in the care of female patients with cholestatic liver disease.

Preventative care in cholestatic liver disease: Pearls for the specialist and subspecialist

Cholestatic liver diseases(CLDs)encompass a variety of disorders of abnormal bile formation and/or flow.CLDs often lead to progressive hepatic insult and injury and following the development of cirrhosis and associated complications.Many such complications are clinically silent until they manifest with severe sequelae,including but not limited to life-altering symptoms,metabolic disturbances,cirrhosis,and hepatobiliary diseases as well as other malignancies.Primary sclerosing cholangitis(PSC)and primary biliary cholangitis(PBC)are the most common CLDs,and both relate to mutual as well as unique complications.This review provides an overview of PSC and PBC,with a focus on preventive measures aimed to reduce the incidence and severity of disease-related complications.