Differential diagnoses in 83 dogs with icterus / Diagnósticos diferenciais em 83 cães com icterícia

Icterus (jaundice) is a yellowish pigmentation resulting from the depositing of bilirubin in tissues due to its high plasmatic concentration. The pathogenesis of icterus includes metabolic changes or obstructed bilirubin excretion and it is classified as pre-hepatic, hepatic and post-hepatic. This study aimed to evaluate and classify different causes of icterus in dogs during post mortem examination. These dogs were examined from 2014 to 2017, using macroscopic and histologic exams as well as ancillary tests. Eighty-three dogs were examined macroscopically and microscopically. They were separated into groups of icterus types: 24 (28.9%) dogs had pre-hepatic icterus, 45 (54.2%) had hepatic, 13 (15.7%) pre-hepatic and hepatic and one (1.2%) had post-hepatic icterus. Many factors were identified as a cause of icterus, including infectious agents (51/83), neoplasms (13/83), hepatic degeneration (11/83), chronic hepatic diseases (6/83), and obstructive causes (1/87). Among the infectious causes, leptospirosis, ehrlichiosis and disorders suggestive of septicemia were diagnosed. Neoplasms associated with icterus were cholangiocarcinoma, hemangiosarcoma and lymphoma. Other causes of icterus included degenerative diseases, such as lipidosis and glycogen degeneration. Hepatic fibrosis (cirrhosis) as a chronic disease and cholelithiasis also produced icterus. PCR was performed to confirm leptospirosis and ehrlichiosis. Samples of total DNA were used to amplify a fragment of a gene from Leptospira interrogans and Ehrlichia canis. In some dogs, co-infection of these agents was detected. The classification and identification of icterus etiologies in dogs is very important due to the number of diseases with this alteration, where ante mortem diagnosis is not always easily performed when some of these conditions are present.(AU)

Icterícia é a pigmentação amarelada decorrente da deposição de bilirrubina em tecidos devido à elevada concentração plasmática. A patogênese da icterícia inclui alterações no metabolismo ou na excreção de bilirrubina, sendo classificada em pré-hepática, hepática ou pós-hepática. O objetivo desse estudo foi identificar, avaliar e classificar as causas de icterícia em cães necropsiados de 2014 a 2017, associando as lesões macroscópicas, histológicas e exames complementares. Foram avaliados macro- e microscopicamente 83 cães com diferentes intensidades de icterícia. Os cães foram separados em grupos de acordo com o tipo de icterícia: 24 (28,9%) cães com icterícia pré-hepática, 45 (54,2%) cães com icterícia hepática, 13 (15,7%) com icterícia pré-hepática e hepática e um (1,2%) com icterícia pós-hepática. Foram identificadas várias etiologias associadas à icterícia, dentre elas pode-se destacar, agentes infecciosos (51/83), neoplasmas (13/83), processos degenerativos (11/83), crônicos (6/83) e obstrutivos (1/83). Dentre as causas infecciosas, destacam-se a leptospirose, a erliquiose e as lesões sugestivas de septicemia. Entre os neoplasmas associados com icterícia destacaram-se o colangiocarcinoma, hemangiossarcoma e linfoma. Outras causas de icterícia incluiriam os processos degenerativos como as degenerações gordurosa e glicogênica. Fibrose hepática (cirrose) e colelitíase foram também diagnosticados como causa de icterícia. A PCR foi utilizada para o diagnóstico confirmatório de leptospirose e erliquiose. Amostras de DNA total foram utilizadas para amplificar um fragmento dos genes de Leptospira interrogans e de Ehrlichia canis. Em alguns cães foi detectada co-infecção por estes agentes. A classificação e a identificação das causas de icterícia em cães são relevantes devido ao grande número de doenças que apresentam essa alteração, muitas vezes sem diagnóstico ante mortem.(AU)

Association of serum levels of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase-1 with clinical outcome in children with biliary atresia.

The purpose of this study was to determine the possible role of serum levels of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) in the pathogenesis of the progressive inflammation and fibrosis in biliary atresia (BA). Serum concentrations of TIMP-1 were measured in 57 BA patients and 15 healthy controls using commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The mean ages of the BA patients and the controls were 6.1 +/- 0.6 and 6.7 +/- 1.1 years, respectively. The patients were categorized into two groups according to their clinical outcomes: patients with jaundice (total bilirubin > or = 2 mg/dl) and patients without jaundice (total bilirubin < 2 mg/dl). In our study, serum levels of TIMP-1 were significantly higher in the BA patients than in healthy subjects (4.8 +/- 0.4 vs. 3.5 +/- 0.3 ng/ml, respectively; p < 0.05). Additionally, serum levels of TIMP-1 significantly increased in the BA patients with jaundice in comparison to those without jaundice (6.3 +/- 0.7 vs. 3.1 +/- 0.3 ng/ml, respectively; p = 0.001). Patients with persistent jaundice had lower levels of albumin but had greater levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, and gamma glutamyl transpeptidase compared with patients without jaundice. Furthermore, patients with portal hypertension (PH) had higher TIMP-1 levels than those without PH (5.3 +/- 0.4 vs. 1.9 +/- 0.3 ng/ml, respectively; p < 0.001). It is concluded that serum levels of TIMP-1 increased in patients with BA. The significant increase in TIMP-1 levels is related to the presence of PH and the severity of jaundice. The elevated TIMP-1 levels may reflect the degree of hepatic fibrosis and development of PH. The data suggest that TIMP-1 may play a role in the pathophysiology of post-Kasai BA.

A comparative study of regression of jaundice in patients of malaria and acute viral hepatitis.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Jaundice is one of the common manifestations of severe malaria in adults. The purpose of this study is to compare the pattern of clinical and biochemical parameters such as serum bilirubin and liver enzyme levels in patients of malaria with jaundice and acute viral hepatitis. METHODOLOGY: The present study was conducted on 34 patients of malaria with jaundice and 15 patients of acute viral hepatitis. Estimation of serum bilirubin, aspartate amino transferase (AST), alanine amino transferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase was done daily using standard procedures in malaria patients and weekly in acute viral hepatitis patients. RESULTS: Mean level of serum bilirubin on first day in malaria and acute viral hepatitis patients was 7.07 +/- 3.94 and 10.38 +/- 7.87 mg%, whereas on Day 8 it was 1.19 +/- 1.43 and 7.88 +/- 7.02 mg% respectively. Mean level of AST on Day 1 in malaria and acute viral hepatitis patients was 158.47 +/- 120.35 and 1418.6 +/- 834.11 IU/L, whereas on Day 8 it was 41 +/- 28.33 and 775.3 +/- 399.01 IU/L respectively. Mean level of ALT on Day 1 in malaria and acute viral hepatitis patients was 220.14 +/- 145.61 and 1666.67 +/- 1112.77 IU/L, whereas on Day 8 it was 50.85 +/- 37.31 and 823.8 +/- 475.06 IU/L respectively. Mean level of serum alkaline phosphatase on Day 1 in malaria and acute viral hepatitis patients was 394.74 +/- 267.78 and 513.4 +/- 324.7 IU/L, whereas on Day 8 it was 84.76 +/- 68.50 and 369.27 +/- 207.75 IU/L respectively. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: We observed that resolution of jaundice in malaria took 1-2 weeks in contrast 6 to 8 weeks in viral hepatitis. This difference in duration was statistically significant. Thus, jaundice not resolving in 1-2 weeks time in a patient of malaria requires serious consideration for presence of other concomitant diseases including viral hepatitis.

Hepatitis D infectivity profile among hepatitis B infected hospitalised patients in Calcutta.

450 hospitalised cases of hepatic and non hepatic disorders and 100 normal individuals were examined for serum Hepatitis B Surface antigen and Delta Virus antigen by ELISA to find out its association with different clinical disorders. 105 patients (23.3%) and 2 control (2%) were positive for HBsAG. 60 cases with jaundice (26%) were HBsAg positive. 65% of HBsAg positive jaundiced patients had serum bilirubin level more than 2 mg per dl with a mean SGPT level of 488 iu/L. Only two cases were positive for HDV antigen among 60 HBsAg positive jaundice patients indicating a lower rate of prevalence of infection (3.3%). 62 (59%) out of 105 HBsAg positive cases did not show any history of blood transfusion or surgical interference indicating a positive HBV transmission through needle prick during investigative procedures.

Serological diagnosis of jaundice epidemics in India.

Enterically transmitted non-A, nonB- hepatitis (ET-NANBH) is a major public health problem in India, where the endemicity of this disease is high and poor public sanitation coupled with compromised quality of drinking water leads to major and minor outbreaks. Sophisticated technics for characterization of hepatitis E virus (HEV) are not easily available/affordable, resulting in continuation of the diagnosis of NANBH for most epidemics. This study attempts to serologically determine the etiology of epidemics of NANBH in India. Eighteen outbreaks of jaundice occurring in various regions of India over a period of twenty months were selected for this laboratory based study. Representative cases of each outbreak were subjected to detailed serological investigation for immunological markers of viral hepatitis. Each serum sample was tested for the immunological markers of acute or recent infection with hepatitis A or B viruses (anti-HAV-IgM, HBsAg and anti-HBc-IgM) by Macro ELISA (Abbott).The sera found to be negative for these three markers ie non-A, non-B hepatitis (NANBH) sera were further tested for anti-HEV by Macro ELISA (anti-HEV EIA, Abbott). A highly significant number of NANBH sera were reactive for anti-HEV in case of almost all the outbreaks. The lowest figure for anti-HEV positivity in NANBH sera of outbreak was compared with anti-HEV positivity in the controls and found to be significantly high. It was concluded that anti-HEV is an important marker revealing probability of the NANBH outbreak being due to HEV.

Hepatitis C and hepatitis E in acute sporadic non-A non-B hepatitis in hospital patients of Delhi (India).

Non-A, non-B hepatitis (NANBH) has been considered to be the commonest cause of acute sporadic viral hepatitis in India. Serological studies (Macro ELISA) were conducted on 477 such patients from 9 hospitals of Delhi for markers of hepatitis A and acute hepatitis B (Anti-HAV-IgM,HBsAg and anti-HBc-IgM) and 49.7% of these were found to be due to NANBH. On further testing of NANBH sera it was found that both hepatitis C and hepatitis E contribute significantly to acute sporadic jaundice in Delhi, the latter more than the former.

Esferocitose hereditaria na gravidez / Hereditary spherocytosis in pregnancy

O presente trabalho descreve 2 casos de esferocitose hereditaria na gravidez, situaçäo rara com esplemomegalia e ictericia. Säo discutidas as condutas adequadas

Epidemiology of a jaundice outbreak in Rairangpur town in Orissa.

A jaundice epidemic broke out in Rairangpur town of Orissa during December 1989 to January 1990. The attack rate was 1.2 per cent with 89.8 per cent cases among 11-40 years age group. Male-female ratio of cases was 2.3:1. The source of infection was traced to contamination of drinking water from leakage in the pipe line which was confirmed by a subsequent case control study. The outbreak was due to enterically transmitted Non A Non B hepatitis virus.