title: Analysis of triglyceride value in the diagnosis and treatment response of secondary hemophagocytic syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Secondary hemophagocytic syndrome (hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, HLH) follows viral infection, malignant disorders, and autoimmune disease. Criteria for HLH diagnosis, which were proposed in 2004, include hypertriglyceridemia. However, some studies reported the absence of hypertriglyceridemia in patients with secondary HLH, differing from those with primary HLH.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, we investigated the presence or absence of hypertriglyceridemia in 28 patients who were diagnosed with secondary HLH between 1997 and 2007 retrospectively. There were no patients undergoing treatment for those with a history of hyperlipidemia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The subjects consisted of 14 patients with lymphoma-associated HLH, 11 with virus-associated HLH, 2 with autoimmune disease-associated HLH, and 1 with post transplantation HLH. In 19 patients (68%), hypertriglyceridemia was noted on diagnosis or during the disease period (mean: 242 mg/dL). Furthermore, the triglyceride (TG) level decreased with the treatment-related amelioration of HLH (mean level before and after treatment: 297 and 136 mg/dL, respectively, p=0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that the TG level is useful for diagnosing HLH and evaluating the treatment response. TG measurement is simple and inexpensive; therefore, this parameter can be determined several times to evaluate the treatment response.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo.
authors.forename: Muneo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Isobe
authors.forename: Norio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yokose
authors.forename: Taro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mizuki
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tajika
authors.forename: Seiji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gomi
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hamaguchi
authors.forename: Koiti
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Inokuchi
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oshimi
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D015228:Hypertriglyceridemia / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications; D051359:Lymphohistiocytosis, Hemophagocytic / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood*; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000150:complications; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014280:Triglycerides