title: Involvement of IL-18 and soluble fas in patients with postoperative hepatic failure.
abstract: We measured the levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukins (IL)-6 and -18, and soluble Fas (sFas) in 11 patients with postoperative hepatic failure and assessed whether IL-18-mediated apoptosis is involved in the onset of liver dysfunction. The serum TNF-alpha, IL-18, and sFas levels were significantly higher in patients with sepsis as a complication than in those without sepsis. The TNF-alpha and IL-18 levels were significantly higher in nonsurvivors than in survivors. Significant correlations were observed between TNF-alpha and IL-6, between TNF-alpha and IL-18, and between TNF-alpha and sFas levels. These results showed that Fas-mediated hepatocyte apoptosis functions as an important mechanism responsible for the onset of postoperative hepatic failure in humans. They especially suggested that IL-18 and TNF-alpha function both as apoptosis-promoting factors and as apoptosis-inhibiting factors, depending on the conditions to which hepatocytes are subjected.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, Akita University School of Medicine, Japan. nakaeh@doc.med.akita-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakae
authors.forename: Y-J
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wada
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tajimi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Endo
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017209:Apoptosis; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D020382:Interleukin-18 / Q000097:blood*; D017114:Liver Failure, Acute / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012995:Solubility; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism; D019014:fas Receptor / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D020382:Interleukin-18; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D019014:fas Receptor