title: Production of C-reactive protein in Escherichia coli-infected patients with liver dysfunction due to liver cirrhosis.
abstract: To assess the effect of liver dysfunction on the production of C-reactive protein (CRP), CRP levels were evaluated in patients with Escherichia coli bacteremia with or without liver cirrhosis (LC). Thirty patients of each kind were selected as case and control groups, respectively. A matched control of 30 LC patients without acute infection was also included. In the patients with E. coli bacteremia, median CRP was 6.2 mg/dL (range 0.2-22.1) in the LC patients and 14.6 mg/dL (range 5.8-39.6) in the patients without liver dysfunction (P < 0.001). In the advanced LC patients in Child-Pugh class C, median CRP was 5.0 mg/dL (range 0.2-12.1) in patients with E. coli bacteremia and 0.5 mg/dL (range 0.1-1.2) in patients without acute infection (P < 0.001). Our data suggest that, although CRP levels are reduced in response to acute infection, production is nevertheless maintained even in patients with advanced liver dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 110-744, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Wan Beom
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Ki-Deok
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Chang Seop
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hee Chang
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Hong Bin
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hyo-Suk
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Myoung-don
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Kang Won
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Choe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000150:complications* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D002097:C-Reactive Protein