To evaluate the meaning of anti-HCV detection in patients treated with IVIG, serum levels of aspartate aminotranstferase(AST), alanine aminotransterase(ALT), HCV Ab titer were measured after treatment with IVIG in 36 patients diagnised of Kawasaki disease or neonatal sepsis. Also polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the detection of HCV was done in 8 patients with persistent HCV Ab positivity at 3 months after IVIG treatment. The results were as follows 1) HCV Ab was positive in all 36 patients at 1 week after IVIG treatment, but in only 8 cases it was positive at 3 months after IVIG treatment. 2) AST, ALT were elevated in 9 cases at 1 week after IVIG treatment, but they were normalized in all cases at 3 months after IVIG treatment. 3) PCR for the detection of HCV was done in 8 patients with persistent HCV Ab positivity at 3 months after IVIG treatment, but HCV was not isolated in any cases. These results suggested that detection of anti-HCV was merely transitory phenominon of HCV Ab transmission, did not show any evidence of HCV infection due to HCV transmission.
Alanine ; Aspartic Acid ; Hepacivirus* ; Hepatitis C* ; Hepatitis* ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins* ; Immunoglobulins, Intravenous ; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sepsis

We measured serum lipoprotein (a) [Lp (a)] concentrations in 304 uremic patients treated on predialysis, hemodialysis (HD) and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD), and compared them with those in 43 normal controls. The mean values were 46.1mg/dl in predialysis, 35.7mg/dl in HD, 54.7mg/dl in CAPD patients and 17.0mg/dl in controls, respectively. Serum Lp (a) levels were elevated both in the predialysis patients (P<0.001) and in the CAPD patients (P<0.001) compared with those in controls, and were also elevated in the CAPD patients (P<0.01) compared with HD patients. Serum Lp (a) levels tended to be higher in HD patients compared with controls, although these differences did not reach statistical significance. We observed statistically significant positive correlations of Lp (a) to serum levels of total cholesterol (TC) (r=0.279, P<0.01), LDL-cholesterol (r=0.335, P<0.01), and Apo (B) (r=0.352, P<0.01), and significant negative correlation of Lp (a) to serum level of albumin (r=-0.278, P<0.01) in 304 CRF patients. CAPD patients had a more atherogenic lipoprotein profile than did HD patients; besides significantly higher Lp (a) levels (P<0.01), total (P<0.001) and LDL (P<0.001) cholesterol, triglycerides (P<0.05), and apo (B) (P<0.001) were significantly elevated in comparison to HD patients. The marked elevation of serum Lp (a) in patients on CAPD may be due to increased hepatic synthesis as a consequence of the substantial amounts of plasma proteins lost in the dialysate. The increased serum concentrations of Lp (a) may contribute to the high risk for atherosclerosis in end stage renal disease, especially in patients treated by CAPD.
Atherosclerosis ; Blood Proteins ; Cholesterol ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic* ; Lipoprotein(a) ; Lipoproteins* ; Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory ; Renal Dialysis ; Triglycerides