title: The relationship between procollagen-III-peptide and the severity of esophageal varices in children with biliary atresia after Kasai operation.
abstract: Biliary atresia (BA) is a common cause of infantile cholestasis. Disease progression leads to intra hepaticfibrosis, and thus to the development of PH and EV. Our objective has been to study the relationship between procollagen-III-peptide (PIIIP) and the severity of EV in children with BA after Kasai operation. Children below 15 years of age (n=29) with BA after a Kasai operation were evaluated for EV by endoscopy. Healthy (n=26) children of the same age and sex distribution who participated in the hepatitis B vaccination program served as the controls. Serum PIIIP was determined by radioimmunoassay. The BA patients were classified on the basis of severity of EV (Paquet's classification) into three groups: group 1 (n=15) had grade 0, group 2 (n=8) grade 1-2, and group 3 (n=6) grade 3-4 EV. In group 3, serum PIIIP (2.9 +/- 1.3 IU/ml) was significantly higher than in group 2 (1.5 +/- 0.4 IU/ml) (P < 0.05). Serum PIIIP levels were increased in group 2 compared with group 1 (1.2 +/- 0.4 IU/ml) and in group 1 compared with the control group (1.2 +/- 0.2 IU/ml), but this difference was not significant. PIIIP levels increased with severity of the EV in the BA patients. Hence, high PIIIP levels may serve as a non invastive indicator of EV developing in postoperative BA patients.
authors.affiliation: Viral Hepatitis Research Unit, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University and Hospital, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
authors.forename: Prasert
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sathienkijakarnchai
authors.forename: Voranush
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Chongsrisawat
authors.forename: Jongrak
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Charoensapaya
authors.forename: Taveesin
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanprayoon
authors.forename: Bidhya
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chandrakamol
authors.forename: Pongspeera
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Suwangool
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Poovorawan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001656:Biliary Atresia / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004932:Esophageal and Gastric Varices / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000097:blood*; D011347:Procollagen / Q000097:blood*; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011347:Procollagen; C041876:procollagen Type III-N-terminal peptide