Endozepine-4 levels are increased in hepatic coma

Table 1 Subjects characteristics at enrollment

	Patients (n = 20)	Controls health (n = 20)	Patients vs control healthy	MHE controls (n = 20)	Patients vs MHE controls (P)	Control healthy vs MHE controls (P)
Age (yr)	48 ± 10.8	49 ± 10.2	0.765	48.2 ± 10.7	0.953	0.81
Males/females	12/8	10/10	-	11/9	-	-
Alcoholic cirrhosis	5/20	-	-	4/20	-	-
Post hepatitis B cirrhosis	4/20	-	-	4/20	-	-
Post hepatitis C cirrhosis	8/20	-	-	9/20	-	-
Unknown cirrhosis	3/20	-	-	3/20	-	-
SBP (mmHg)	137.2 ± 12.8	134.1 ± 10.4	0.406	138.4 ± 11.7	0.759	0.227
DBP (mmHg)	82.4 ± 10.7	80.6 ± 10.3	0.591	82.7 ± 10.6	0.929	0.529
Heart rate (bpm)	78.1 ± 11.2	80.2 ± 11.8	0.567	84.1 ± 10.7	0.091	0.280
Smokers/no smokers	11/9	11/9	-	10/10	-	-

SBP: Systolic blood pressure; DBP: Diastolic blood pressure; Bpm: Beats per minute.

Table 2 Precipitant factors in patients with hepatic coma

	Patients endozepine-4 levels > 221	Patients endozepine-4 levels < 221
Hemorrage	10	2
Sepsis	-	3
Dehydration	-	2
Surgery	-	-
Unknown	-	3

Table 3 Laboratory parameters of subjects included in the study

	Hepatic coma patients (n = 20)	Controls (n = 20)	P1	MHE patients (n = 20)	P2	P3
			patients vs Control		patients vs MHE controls (P)	control vs MHE controls (P)
Endozepine-4 (pmol/mL)	252.55 ± 25.06b	2.8 ± 0.87b	< 0.001	2.96 ± 1.28b	< 0.001	0.646
NH3 (mg/dL)	139.30 ± 87.46b	36.0 ± 8.40b	< 0.001	45.8 ± 10.2b	< 0.001	0.002
Serum albumin (g/dL)	2.78 ± 0.6b	4.1 ± 0.31b	< 0.001	3.9 ± 0.61ab	< 0.001	0.199
Serum BUN (mg/dL)	71.2 ± 7.2b	48.4 ± 4.70b	< 0.001	56.4 ± 5.40	< 0.001	< 0.001
Serum creatinine (mg/dL)	1.56 ± 0.44	0.96 ± 0.32	< 0.001	1.01 ± 0.30	< 0.001	0.613
Serum bilirubin (mg/dL)	2.96 ± 1.56	0.84 ± 0.21	< 0.001	1.22 ± 0.36	< 0.001	< 0.001
Serum AST (IU/L)	60.2 ± 10.8	22.8 ± 8.20	< 0.001	47.5 ± 10.2	< 0.001	< 0.001
Serum ALT (IU/L)	58.8 ± 11.9	36.9 ± 11.2	< 0.001	45.2 ± 10.8	< 0.001	0.022

^aP < 0.05,

^bP < 0.001 vs control. MHE: Minimal hepatic encephalopathy.