title: Serum zinc value in patients with hepatitis virus-related chronic liver disease: association with the histological degree of liver fibrosis and with the severity of varices in compensated cirrhosis.
abstract: The relationships between the serum mineral concentrations and the endoscopic findings of esophageal varices have been poorly investigated. In this study, we investigated hepatitis virus-positive patients who had undergone a liver biopsy (n = 576) and 75 patients with compensated cirrhosis in order to evaluate the association of the zinc value with the severity of liver fibrosis and esophageal varices. The mean zinc values decreased with the progression of fibrosis (METAVIR score; F0-1: 71.3 ± 11.3, F2: 68.9 ± 11.7, F3: 66.3 ± 11.8, F4: 63.9 ± 15.0). In the hepatitis virus-related compensated cirrhosis, the mean zinc value decreased with the severity of varices (patients without varices: 66.3 ± 12.6, patients with low-risk varices: 62.5 ± 13.7, patients with high-risk varices: 55.6 ± 13.0). The zinc value was significantly lower in patients with varices than in those without varices (59.3 ± 13.6 vs 66.3 ± 12.6, p<0.05). The zinc value was also significantly lower in the patients with a high risk of bleeding than in those with a low risk (55.6 ± 13.0 vs 64.6 ± 13.1, p<0.01). These findings suggest that the zinc value is not only an indicator of an abnormal metal metabolism, but is also a simple parameter associated with hepatitis virus-related various conditions, including the degree of liver fibrosis and the severity of esophageal varices in compensated cirrhosis.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Mukogawa-cho 1-1, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 663-8501, Japan ; Second Department of Internal Medicine, Osaka Medical College, Daigaku-machi 2-7 Takatsuki, Osaka 569-8686, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazunari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iwata
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Mukogawa-cho 1-1, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 663-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirayuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Enomoto
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Mukogawa-cho 1-1, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 663-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Shuhei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nishiguchi
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Mukogawa-cho 1-1, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 663-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Nobuhiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Aizawa
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Mukogawa-cho 1-1, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 663-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshiyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Mukogawa-cho 1-1, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 663-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iwata
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Mukogawa-cho 1-1, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 663-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Hironori
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Mukogawa-cho 1-1, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 663-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoto
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Mukogawa-cho 1-1, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 663-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takashima
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Mukogawa-cho 1-1, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 663-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Mukogawa-cho 1-1, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 663-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroyasu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Imanishi
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Mukogawa-cho 1-1, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 663-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Iijima
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine, Osaka Medical College, Daigaku-machi 2-7 Takatsuki, Osaka 569-8686, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tsuda
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine, Osaka Medical College, Daigaku-machi 2-7 Takatsuki, Osaka 569-8686, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhide
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Higuchi
keywords: biomarker; esophageal varices; liver cirrhosis; metabolism; zinc