title: Caffeine metabolism differences in acute hepatitis of viral and drug origin.
abstract: The 24-h urinary excretion rate of caffeine metabolites following 200 mg caffeine intake has been proved to be a valuable safe quantitative test of liver function. The pathological mechanism of acute hepatitis of viral and drug origin is different. In both diseases, the patient's caffeine metabolic capacity during the acute and the recovery period was compared. In the acute period, in both diseases, the strongly reduced metabolism of caffeine paralleled the variations of the usual biochemical tests. During the recovery period, in viral hepatitis, caffeine metabolism and biochemical tests returned to the normal values. In drug-induced hepatitis during the recovery period, caffeine metabolism remained severely impaired at a time when biochemical tests were back to the control levels. This discrepancy might be due to the histological or molecular toxic effects of the drug(s), irrespective of cytolysis. After drug-induced hepatitis, a caffeine test might be used to check the total recovery or to choose an adapted dosage of medicines.
authors.affiliation: Service de Pharmacologie Clinique, Faculté de Médecine, Place Saint Jacques, 25030 Besançon, France.
authors.forename: Y C
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Bechtel
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lelouët
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Brientini
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: David-Laroche
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Miguet
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Paintaud
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Bechtel
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000284:Administration, Oral; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D001191:Arylamine N-Acetyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism; D002110:Caffeine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000652:urine; D056486:Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury / Q000378:metabolism*; D003289:Convalescence; D019388:Cytochrome P-450 CYP1A2 / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D008862:Microsomes, Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D014498:Uracil / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000652:urine; D014527:Uric Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000652:urine; D014969:Xanthine Oxidase / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014527:Uric Acid; C030530:1-methyluric acid; D002110:Caffeine; D014498:Uracil; C036692:5-acetylamino-6-formylamino-3-methyluracil; D019388:Cytochrome P-450 CYP1A2; D014969:Xanthine Oxidase; D001191:Arylamine N-Acetyltransferase; D000410:Alanine Transaminase