13C-phenylalanine and 13C-methacetin breath test to evaluate functional capacity of hepatocyte in chronic liver disease.

BACKGROUND: To grade liver damage, Child-Pugh classification is used but these tests do not reflect the quantitative functional hepatic reserve. AIMS: 13C-Phenylalanine Breath Test and 13C-Methacetin Breath Test are evaluated as possible tools, being both safe and easy to perform, to quantify functional hepatic reserve in chronic liver disease patients. PATIENTS: Both tests were performed in 48 healthy volunteers and 48 chronic liver disease patients. METHODS: Breath samples were collected after taking 13C-Phenylalanine (100 mg) and 13C-Methacetin (75 mg). 13CO2 enrichment was measured using mass spectrometry RESULTS: Both tests discriminated the hepatic function, decreasing results of the 13CO2 enrichment agreeing with the increasing severity of the hepatic patient (13C-Phenylalanine Breath Test multiple correlation coefficient: 0.72, global p<0.001; Methacetin Breath Test: 0.73, p<0.001). Correlation between 13C-Phenylalanine Breath Test and Methacetin Breath Test was 0.63, p<0.001. If both tests were pathological, the sensitivity for the diagnosis of hepatic dysfunction was high (98%), although the specificity decreased to 60%. Best results were obtained at 30 minutes with 13C-Phenylalanine Breath Test and at 10 minutes with Methacetin Breath Test. CONCLUSIONS: Both 13C-Phenylalanine Breath Test and Methacetin Breath Test are safe and easy tests to perform and both are able to discriminate the hepatic functional capacity between the different groups studied.

[Serum levels of sialoglycoproteins soluble in perchloric acid in rats with Yoshida's sarcoma]. / Niveles séricos de sialoglucoproteínas solubles en acido perclórico, en ratas portadoras de sarcoma de Yoshida.

We have studied the levels of sialo-glycoprotein in the serum of Yoshida sarcoma-bearing rats, with the aim of exploring its possible value as a tumour marker and the influence upon it of non-neoplastic factors.

LDH isoenzyme patterns in tumors, polyps, and uninvolved mucosa of human cancerous colon.

By using a method of electrophoresis separation, the authors determined the relative values of each one of the lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) isoenzymes in the normal colonic mucosa. In adenocarcinomas, there is a significant rise in the percent of LDH-5. A similar disturbance has been demonstrated in 14 polyps, which confirms the known precancerous condition of these lesions. In the uninvolved mucosa surrounding neoplasm, the authors found that the increase in the relative proportion of "type M" isoenzymes, starting at 2 cm from the edge of the tumor, progressively disappears as the sample are taken farther away from the neoplasm. The authors conclude that these LDH isoenzyme pattern shifts in a normal mucosa could be an early sign of malignancy before the morphologic changes and could also be of great interest in the prediction of cancer relapse in the suture line after surgery.