Effect of taurine on glucose metabolism in experimentally-induced fulminant hepatic failure in rats
Effect of taurine on glucose metabolism in experimentally-induced fulminant hepatic failure in rats
Date
2010
Authors
Asha, K.K.
Devadasan, K.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Society of Fisheries Technologists (India)
Abstract
Fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) is a devastating illness that has a high
mortality rate and affects patients with previously healthy livers (Moreno-
Gonzalez etal. 1995). Although an uncommon disorder, it is usually fatal
and is defined as the occurrence of encephalopathy in a previously healthy
person, within eight weeks from onset of severe liver disease. Although
the etiology of FHF remains unclear, viral hepatitis and drug-induced liver
injury account for the majority of causes. FHF caused by viral hepatitis
is a national health problem in the developing countries. Hepatitis E causes
large-scale epidemics of hepatitis in the Indian subcontinent, involving
hundreds of thousands of cases with high mortality (Acharya et at., 2000;
Khan et al., 2006) Clinical features of FHF can be divided into two broad
groups: (i) manifestations of acute hepatic injury, namely, jaundice,
shrunken liver, high liver enzymes, deficiency of clotting factors and other
synthetic functions of the liver; and (U) multi-organ failure and a wide range
of metabolic disturbances. All patients should be managed in an intensive
care setting pending transfer to a liver transplantation center. Several
issues namely selection of patients, appropriate timing of the transplant,
the difficulty of making donor liver available within a short period of time,
and postoperative course of these sick patients, and the fact that liver
transplant should take place before severe irreversible brain damage has
made transplantation for FHF a very challenging field (Turchetti, 2003).
Despite this complexity, impressive recent progress has been achieved
in advancing our understanding and appreciation of the cellular processes
and mechanistic bases underlying fulminate hepatic failure. Effective
clinical application of hepatoprotective and cytotrophic drugs may offer
valuable time to provide a donor liver, or alternatively, to allow the native
liver to regenerate.
Description
Keywords
Taurine, amino acid, albino rats, glycogen
Citation
Proceedings of the National Seminar on Conservation and Sustainability of Coastal Living Resources of India, 1-3 December 2009, Cochin, ed.by Meenakumari, B. et.al 655-669