Elevated nitric oxide and 3’,5’ cyclic guanosine monophosphate levels in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis

Table 1 Laboratory findings in the patients with alcoholic cirrhosis

	Child-Pugh A (n = 7)	Child-Pugh B (n = 11)	Child-Pugh C (n = 8)	Reference values
LDH U/L	403.71 ± 115.32	453.80 ± 126.10	369.25 ± 151.89	240-480
AST U/L	59.57 ± 51.56	109.20 ± 97	88.88 ± 97.81	0-31
ALT U/L	40.86 ± 27.39	58.50 ± 47.58	43.63 ± 47.43	0-31
γGT U/L	271 ± 190.32	280.12 ± 237.87	196.75 ± 160.35	5-36
AP U/L	134.57 ± 77.62	99 ± 24.61	103.88 ± 44.25	35-104
Leukocytes/&mgr;L	5784.29 ± 1677.52	7429 ± 3987.49	5731.25 ± 2187.02	4000-11000
Neutrophils/&mgr;L	3289.14 ± 1987.81	4424 ± 3042.67	3555 ± 1781.55	1900-7500
Creatinine mg/dL	1.17 ± 0.47	1.41 ± 0.54	1.91 ± 0.61	0.7-1.1
Bilirubin mg/dL	1.06 ± 0.10	1.56 ± 0.88	2.45 ± 1.37	0.1-1.1
INR	1.02 ± 0.10	1.54 ± 0.71	2.59 ± 0.99	0.8-1.1
MELD	8.29 ± 2.75	16.10 ± 6.77	23.38 ± 7.09	6-8

LDH: Lactate dehydrogenase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; γGT: Gamma glutamyltransferase; AP: Alkaline phosphatase; INR: International normalised ratio of prothrombin time. The results are expressed as means ± SD and range.

Table 2 Levels of NO^•, cGMP, GSHt, GSSG, GSHr, MELD and GSHr/GSSG among the controls and patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis (Child-Pugh A, B and C) studied

Biomarkers	Controls (n = 16)	Child-Pugh A (n = 7)	Child-Pugh B and C (n = 19)	P values
NO3-&mgr;mol/L	4.16 ± 1.36; (4.21)	6.73 ± 1.32; (6.89)	12.23 ± 4.29; (11.79)	b < 0.001; a < 0.05
NO2-&mgr;mol/L	3.10 ± 1.27; (2.90)	4.97 ± 1.5; (5.76)	9.46 ± 3.93; (7.80)	b < 0.001; a < 0.05
NO• (NO3- + NO2-) &mgr;mol/L	7.26 ± 2.47; (7.31)	11.70 ± 2.74; (12.72)	21.70 ± 8.07; (18.22)	b < 0.001; a < 0.05
cGMP pmol/L	4.95 ± 1.21; (5.39)	10.14 ± 2.78; (9.0)	20.12 ± 6.62; (21.00)	b < 0.001; a < 0.05
GSHt &mgr;mol/L	66.57 ± 26.23; (59.88)	23.01 ± 4.38; (22.82)	16.04 ± 6.06; (14.30)	b < 0.001; a < 0.05
GSSG &mgr;mol/L	18.57 ± 6.39; (18.57)	9.43 ± 2.3; (9.65)	9.47 ± 4.17; (8.13)	b < 0.001; a < 0.05
GSHr &mgr;mol/L	47.78 ± 23.63; (45.19)	13.58 ± 3.7; (13.88)	6.54 ± 3.31; (6.02)	b < 0.001; a < 0.05
GSHr/GSSG	2.68 ± 1.16; (2.95)	1.52 ± 0.63; (1.50)	0.81 ± 0.42; (0.58)	b < 0.001; a < 0.05
MELD	6-8	8.29 ± 2.75; (8.00)	20.17 ± 8.45; (20.00).	b = 0.001; a < 0.05

Data were analysed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA)

^bP < 0.001 between groups of each biomarker and Student-Newman-Keuls post-hoc test was used for comparison of difference of means between each parameter

^aP < 0.05. NO^•: Nitric oxide; cGMP: Cyclic guanosine monophosphate; GSHt: Total glutathione; GSSG: Glutathione disulfide; GSHr: Thiol-reduced glutathione; MELD: Model for end-stage liver disease; GSHr/GSSG: Thiol-reduced glutathione to glutathione disulfide ratio.