title: Improvement of molar ratio of branched-chain amino acids to tyrosine (BTR) associated with liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C patients treated with interferon-alpha.
abstract: The molar ratio of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) to tyrosine (BTR), which has recently been possible to easily determine by an enzymatic method, can be clinically used as a substitute for that of BCAA to aromatic amino acids (AAA). We used this method to investigate the diagnostic implications of serum BTR in patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with interferon-alpha. There was a good correlation between BTR and staging (fibrosis) scores both before and after treatment. BTR increased significantly at 24 months after treatment in the responder group (P < 0.01). Moreover, a significant increase in BTR was observed in patients with improved staging (P = 0.015), but not grading (necroinflammatory), scores. BTR in chronic hepatitis C patients seems to be reflected by the extent of liver fibrosis, and, in the responder group, it can be improved, together with liver fibrosis, by interferon-alpha treatment.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ninomiya
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sugano
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kumon
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nagano
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kasuga
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hayashi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000597:Amino Acids, Branched-Chain / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014443:Tyrosine / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D000597:Amino Acids, Branched-Chain; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D014443:Tyrosine