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Insulin and glucagon levels in fulminant hepatic failure in man

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Abstract

The behavior of insulin and glucagon and related metabolic substrates was assayed in plasma of patients with fulminant hepatic failure. All 12 subjects were provided the same nutritional support. High levels of insulin and glucagon were present at all times and no difference was observed between surviving patients (four) and those who died (8). Elevated values for branched-chain and aromatic amino acids as well as alanine were present. Statistically significant lower levels of aromatic amino acids and consequently a greater branched chain-aromatic amino acid ratio was found in surviving vs nonsurviving patients. A significantly greater level of alpha-fetoprotein was found in patients who survived as compared to those who died.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Infectious Diseases Department, University of Parma, Via Gramsci 14, 43100, Parma, Italy

    F. Fiaccadori MD, G. Pedretti MD, C. Ferrari MD, P. Pizzaferri MD, O. Riggio MD, N. Orlandi MD & A. Pezzarossa MD

  2. II Endocrinology Department, University of Parma, Via Gramsci 14, 43100, Parma, Italy

    F. Fiaccadori MD, G. Pedretti MD, C. Ferrari MD, P. Pizzaferri MD, O. Riggio MD, N. Orlandi MD & A. Pezzarossa MD

  3. Gastroenterology Department, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Italy

    F. Fiaccadori MD, G. Pedretti MD, C. Ferrari MD, P. Pizzaferri MD, O. Riggio MD, N. Orlandi MD & A. Pezzarossa MD

Authors
  1. F. Fiaccadori MD
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  2. G. Pedretti MD
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  3. C. Ferrari MD
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  4. P. Pizzaferri MD
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  5. O. Riggio MD
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  6. N. Orlandi MD
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  7. A. Pezzarossa MD
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Additional information

This work was supported in part by the grant National Project 40% from the Ministry of Education of Italy.

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Fiaccadori, F., Pedretti, G., Ferrari, C. et al. Insulin and glucagon levels in fulminant hepatic failure in man. Digest Dis Sci 36, 801–808 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01311240

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01311240

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