Urinary polyamine excretion measured by a simple enzymatic method is clinically useful as an expression of hepatic regeneration in liver diseases.
Polyamines have been known to play an important role in hepatic regeneration. In the present study, we measured the amount of urinary polyamine excretion in various liver diseases using a simple enzymatic method. Urinary polyamine excretion was elevated above the normal range in 21 out of 47 cases with fulminant hepatic failure, acute hepatitis, chronic active hepatitis, and liver cirrhosis. No change, however, was observed in 11 patients with chronic inactive hepatitis. In fulminant hepatic failure, two patients with urinary polyamine concentrations above 100 mumoles/g.cr. recovered, while two patients with concentrations of 56.2 and 26.7 mumoles/g.cr., died. In acute hepatitis, urinary polyamine excretion was significantly less in the recovery stage compared with the acute stage. When insulin and glucagon infusion therapy was performed in patients with liver cirrhosis without ascites, urinary polyamine excretion was significantly elevated after three days. These results suggest that measuring the amount of polyamine in urine is clinically useful for monitoring hepatic regeneration.
Izumi
N
N
Department of Internal Medicine, Musashino Red-Cross Hospital, Tokyo.
Yauchi
T
T
Enomoto
N
N
Miyake
S
S
Hasumura
Y
Y
D015317:Biogenic Polyamines / Q000652:urine*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000652:urine; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000652:urine*; D008115:Liver Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male
D015317:Biogenic Polyamines; D015415:Biomarkers