The Pituitary Hormone Secretion Pattern In Cirrhosis Patients

Main Category: Liver Disease / Hepatitis
Also Included In: Neurology / Neuroscience;  Endocrinology
Article Date: 24 Sep 2008 - 12:00 PDT

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Hepatic encephalopathy, a major complication of cirrhosis, is a clinical syndrome characterized by mental status changes in patients with severe hepatic insufficiency. Hormonal disorders and circadian rhythm abnormalities are often associated with liver disease, and the severity of these disorders is related to liver disease severity and duration. The role of melatonin is critical, as diurnal melatonin rhythm disruption may significantly contribute to circadian function alterations. However, there is very limited data relating these abnormalities with cirrhosis severity and hepatic encephalopathy

A research article published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. In this article, they analyzed the correlation between pituitary hormone and melatonin circadian rhythms with clinical performance.

They found that melatonin rhythm abnormalities are more severe as cirrhosis progresses, and abnormal melatonin and pituitary hormone patterns are found before hepatic encephalopathy develops. As melatonin is a major determinant of important circadian rhythms in humans, an improved understanding of melatonin could have significant implications not only for cirrhosis patients, but also for the general public.

This is an important study because it shows that abnormal pituitary hormone and melatonin circadian secretion patterns are present in cirrhosis before hepatic encephalopathy develops, and also that melatonin circadian rhythm abnormalities correlate with liver disease severity. More importantly, these abnormalities could be an early indicator of hepatic encephalopathy.

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Reference: Velissaris D, Karanikolas M, Kalogeropoulos A, Solomou E, Polychronopoulos P, Thomopoulos K, Labropoulou-Karatza C. Pituitary hormone circadian rhythm alterations in cirrhosis patients with subclinical hepatic encephalopathy. World J Gastroenterol 2008; 14(26): 4190-4195: http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/14/4190.asp

Correspondence to: Menelaos Karanikolas, MD, MPH, Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital of Patras, Rion 26500, Greece.

About World Journal of Gastroenterology

World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG), a leading international journal in gastroenterology and hepatology, has established a reputation for publishing first class research on esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, viral hepatitis, colorectal cancer, and H pylori infection. It provides a forum for both clinicians and scientists. WJG has been indexed and abstracted in Current Contents/Clinical Medicine, Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch) and Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, Index Medicus, MEDLINE and PubMed, Chemical Abstracts, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Abstracts Journals, Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology and Hepatology, CAB Abstracts and Global Health. ISI JCR 2003-2000 IF: 3.318, 2.532, 1.445 and 0.993. WJG is a weekly journal published by WJG Press. The publication dates are the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th of every month. The WJG is supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30224801 and No. 30424812, and was founded with the title China National Journal of New Gastroenterology on October 1, 1995, and renamed WJG on January 25, 1998.

About The WJG Press

The WJG Press mainly publishes World Journal of Gastroenterology.

Source: Lai-Fu Li
World Journal of Gastroenterology

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