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  • Title: [Endocrine changes of the liver in the cirrhotic alcoholic: analysis of circadian rhythms of anteriopituitary, adrenocortical, and gonadal hormones].
    Author: Pasqualetti P, Colantonio D, Casale R, Natali G.
    Journal: Riv Eur Sci Med Farmacol; 1989 Jun; 11(3):227-35. PubMed ID: 2640044.
    Abstract:
    Circadian rhythms of anteropituitary (ACTH, HGH, TSH, FSH, LH, PRL), adrenocortical (cortisol, aldosterone, DHEA-S), and gonadal (testosterone, 17 beta-estradiol, progesterone) hormones were investigated in a group of male patients with alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver, compared with group of male clinically healthy subjects. Each group consisted of six subjects. After a period of ten days of synchronized life conditions, venous blood samples were drawn every four hours during a whole day, the subjects resting in constant supine position. The plasma hormonal levels were determined by radioimmunoassay method. The results, analyzed by "cosinor" method, show a significant (p less than 0.05) circadian rhythm only for cortisol, aldosterone, and DHEA-S in the cirrhotic patients, while the control group exhibits a statistically significant (p less than 0.05) circadian rhythm for all hormones, except for 17 beta-estradiol. These data support the evidence of serious abnormalities in the biological time structure of anteropituitary and gonadal hormones in alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver, while the adrenalcortex seems to maintain its own intrinsic circadian rhythmicity. On the basis of these results, the authors discuss the main mechanisms of the chronobiological hormonal abnormalities in alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver. Further investigations in this area may provide new insights into hormonal mechanism responsible for the endocrine abnormalities in the alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver.
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