Purtscher’s-like retinopathy as a rare complication 
of acute alcoholic pancreatitis

In both developed and developing countries, overuse of alcohol is a considered as the major cause of acute and chronic pancreatitis. Prolonged overconsumption of alcohol for 5–10 years typically precedes the initial attack of acute alcoholic pancreatitis. It is observed that only a minority (around 5%) of alcoholics develop pancreatitis. It is now established that the pancreas has the capacity to metabolize ethanol. Previous studies have shown that there are two major pathways of ethanol metabolism, oxidative and non-oxidative. Oxidative ethanol metabolism involves the conversion of ethanol to acetaldehyde, a reaction that is catalysed by aldehyde dehydrogenase (ADH) with contributions from cytochrome P450 enzyme (CYP2E1) and possibly also catalase. Genetic factors regulating alcohol metabolism could predispose in developing alcoholic pancreatitis (AP). We investigated the association of polymorphisms in ADH enzymes with the alcoholic pancreatitis in North coastal Andhra Pradesh. Patients with alcoholic pancreatitis (AP; n = 100), alcoholic controls (AC; n = 100), and healthy controls (HC; n = 100) were included in the study. Blood samples were collected from the subjects in EDTA coated vials. DNA was extracted and genotyping for ADH2 and ADH3 was done by PCR-RFLP (polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism). The products were analysed by gel electrophoresis. The frequency distribution of ADH3*1/*1 genotype was significantly higher in AP group (54%) compared with AC (35%), and HC (42%), and was found to be associated with increased risk of alcoholic pancreatitis. There was no statistically significant difference between the frequency distribution of ADH3*1/*1, ADH3*1/*2, and ADH3*2/*2 genotypes between AC and HC. There was no statistically significant difference between the frequency distribution of ADH2*1/*1, ADH2*1/*2, and ADH2*2/*2 genotypes in AP compared with AC and HC. This study shows that carriers of ADH3*1/*1 individuals consuming alcohol are at higher risk for alcoholic pancreatitis than those with other genotypes such as ADH3*1/*2 and ADH3*2/*2.

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The role and importance of biochemical markers in diagnosis of alcoholic acute pancreatitis

Medicinski pregled ◽

10.2298/mpns1204152t ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 65 (3-4) ◽

pp. 152-157

Author(s):

Snezana Tesic-Rajkovic ◽

Biljana Radovanovic-Dinic ◽

Tatjana Jevtovic-Stoimenov

Keyword(s):

Acute Pancreatitis ◽

Aspartate Aminotransferase ◽

Alanine Aminotransferase ◽

Biochemical Markers ◽

Biochemical Parameters ◽

Serum Amylase ◽

Alcoholic Pancreatitis ◽

Serum Lipase ◽

Acute Alcoholic Pancreatitis ◽

Biochemical Analyses

Introduction. Alcoholic acute pancreatitis occurs in 10% of alcoholics, who take more than 80g alcohol daily. Different biochemical markers are used to diagnose acute pancreatitis, and some of them may help in establishing etiology of acute pancreatitis. Material and Methods. This study is a prospective review of 21 patients. All patients were hospitalized at the Department for Gastroenterology and Hepatology or at the Department for Surgery of the Clinical Centre of Nis in the period from August 1st 2009 to March 1st 2010 with diagnosis of acute alcoholic pancreatitis. Detailed anamnesis, clinical examination, biochemical analyses and ultrasonography of the upper abdomen were done in all patients. All patients provided data on alcohol abuse. Results. The analysis of the corresponding biochemical parameters revealed a statistically significant correlation between the following values: serum amylase and serum lipase (R=0.964674; p<0.001), cholesterol and triglycerides (R=0.93789; p<0.001), total and direct bilirubin (R=0.857899; p<0.001) and between aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase (R=0.824461, p<0.001) in patients with alcoholic acute pancreatitis. In addition, there was a statistically significant correlation between the values of serum amylase and urinary amylase (R=0.582742, p<0.001). Discussion. The analysis of biochemical markers showed that some of them were significant for beforehand diagnosis of alcoholic acute pancreatitis, which is in accordance with other studies. Conclusion Some biochemical parameters can be potential predictors of alcoholic acute pancreatitis (lipase/amylase ratio >2, greater ratio of aspartate aminotransferase/ alanine aminotransferase, enhanced triglycerides and values of mean corpuscular volume.

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