title: Impact of 3-D glucan during liver transplantation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  β-D glucan in the portal vein blood is processed by the hepatic reticuloendothelial system, and therefore, it is possible that the β-D glucan kinetics of the peripheral vein blood may be useful as a biological index. In this study, the β-D glucan levels in the peripheral and portal vein blood during liver transplantation were measured in order to study the clinical significance of the molecule.
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects comprised 20 patients who underwent living donor liver transplantation. In the perioperative period, the β-D glucan levels were measured before liver transplantation, during surgical procedure, then on postoperative days 5, 14 and 21.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The portal vein blood showed a significantly higher level of β-D glucan than the peripheral blood (p<0.001). A significant difference of β-D glucan levels was observed between the pre-liver transplantation and postoperative days 5 (p=0.048). There was a significant positive correlation between the preoperative β-D glucan level and the period of postoperative hospitalization (p<0.001). The patients with fungal infections (35.0%) had a significantly longer period of hospitalization (p=0.019).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The β-D glucan kinetics accurately reflects the liver function and fungal infections. The β-D glucan level before liver transplantation can be used to
authors.forename: Yukihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sanada
authors.forename: Taizen
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Urahashi
authors.forename: Yoshiyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ihara
authors.forename: Taiichi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wakiya
authors.forename: Noriki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.forename: Naoya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Yuta
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hirata
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mizuta
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007902:Length of Stay; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects; D019520:Living Donors; D008297:Male; D009181:Mycoses / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D047071:beta-Glucans / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D047071:beta-Glucans