High density lipoprotein cholesterol in bilharzial hepatic fibrosis

High density lipoprotein cholesterol and total serum cholesterol were measured in 25 patients with bilharzial hepatic fibrosis, 16 patients with coronary heart disease as well as 20 healthy control subjects of matched age, sex and weight. Bilharzial patients showed no change in the absolute value of serum HDL-cholesterol, but when the latter was related to the total serum cholesterol which was markedly diminished, the ratio was significantly higher than the control value. On the contrary, CHD patients under investigation presented with significant increase in total serum cholesterol, significant deminution in serum HDL-cholesterol as well as the ratio of serum HDL-cholesterol to total serum cholesterol. The possible mechanisms responsible for these results as well as their role in explaining the low incidence of thrombovascular lesion in bilharzial hepatic fibrosis were discussed

Chromium red cell survivial hepatosplenic schistosamiasis

The red-cell survival was studied in eight patients with hepatomegalic schistosomiasis with slight or moderate enlargement of the spleen. The CR[51] red cell half-life ranged between 15 and 30 days with four patients definitely below the lowest I'mit of normal of 25 days indicating mere rapid destruction of erythrocytes. As evidences of haemolysis could not be demonstrated in these patients, this might be due to chronic and slowly continuous red cell destruction. The size of the spleen did not correlate with the presence or absence of shortened red-cell half-life. It seems that a deranged spleen circulation secondary to a severer degree of portal hypertension may be the factor that determines intrasplenic red-cell destruction rather than the size of the spleen