Endotoxemia in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis

Abstract

There is a relationship between infection and the severity of endotoxemia in patients with liver cirrhosis (LC). Bacterial or viral or agent, penetrating the body of a patient with LC, triggers a cascade of immune-enzymatic reactions resulting in the release of cytokines, which in turn lead to the activation of lipid peroxidation (LP) causing endotoxemia and oxidative stress. To identify patterns between the presence of infection and the degree of endotoxemia in patients with liver cirrhosis, they were divided into 2 groups using the method of cluster analysis. We investigated the levels of ammonia, lactate dehydrogenase, medium molecular weight peptides, cholinesterase, lactate, malondialdehyde, catalase, reduced glutathione, glutathione peroxidase. Parameters of LP, oxidative stress, endotoxemia increased in patients at high risk of infection (group 2), which proves the essential correlation between infection and LP, oxidative stress and endotoxemia in patients with LC. Further research is needed to identify more precise patterns. Timely examination of patients and identifying signs of endotoxemia can prevent the development of infectious complications of LC and increase survival rates. However, the identified patterns require further study.

Keywords

• lipid peroxidation
• endotoxinemia
• liver cirrhosis