Background. The aim of the study was to assess the activity of interleukin-1α, interleukin-6, and hepatocyte growth factor protein (HGF) in serum of patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis. Materials and Methods. Sixty patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis treated in various hospitals were randomly enrolled. The stage of cirrhosis was assessed according to the Child-Turcotte-Pugh scoring system. The control group consisted of ten healthy persons without liver disease, who did not drink alcohol. Additionally, the group of alcoholics without liver cirrhosis was included in the study. The activity of interleukin-1α, interleukin-6, and HGF in blood plasma of patients and controls was measured using the sandwich enzyme immunoassay technique with commercially available quantitative ELISA test kits. Results. Higher concentrations of HGF protein were demonstrated in patients with Child class B and Child class C liver cirrhosis, compared to controls and alcoholics without liver cirrhosis. Moreover, significantly higher concentrations of HGF protein were found in patients with Child class C liver cirrhosis compared to patients with Child class A liver cirrhosis (p < 0.05). The concentrations of interleukin-1α in patients with Child class B and Child class C liver cirrhosis were significantly higher in comparison with controls. Significantly higher concentrations of interleukin-6 were demonstrated in Child class C, compared to Child class A.

Introduction. Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) are a real social problem, with an upward trend worldwide. TBI is the leading cause of death and disability, especially among young men. Each year in Europe, and also in Poland, 243 per 100,000 individuals suffer from TBI. Assessing prognosis after traumatic brain injury is very important in order to help clinicians to make a decision about the implementation of specific methods of treatment, and to make communication with the patient and the patient's family easier. Objective. The objective of this review was to present prognostic factors, to assess outcomes within a short time after a moderate to severe traumatic brain injury, as well as to predict functional outcome. The most important independent variables were: age, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) motor score, pupil response, Marshall CT classification and traumatic subarachnoid haemorrhage. Other important prognostic factors included hypotension, hypoxia, glucose, coagulopathy, haemoglobin and category of CT characteristic, such as midline shift, mass lesion, basal cistern. Conclusions. Gender and intraventricular haemorrhage did not have predictive value. This subject needs much more research in the area of new prognostic factors which would be better associated with outcome after traumatic brain injury.

Based on this preclinical study, one can ascertain that ivabradine dose-dependently increased the threshold for MEST-induced seizures, suggesting the antiseizure activity of the compound in this seizure model in mice.

In alcoholic liver cirrhosis, normal liver cells are replaced by scar tissue (fibrosis). Liver fibrosis is a dynamic process in which activated hepatic stellate cells are involved in the synthesis of matrix proteins and the regulation of matrix degeneration. The aim of the presented study was to assess the usefulness of MMP-2, MMP-8 and MMP-9 as diagnostic markers of alcoholic liver disease. Sixty patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis were randomly enrolled during hospitalization in departments of hospitals from the Lublin Region in eastern Poland. The stage of cirrhosis was estimated according to Child-Turcotte-Pugh criteria (Child-Pugh score) as P- Ch A, P-Ch B, P-Ch C. The control group consisted of 10 healthy persons without liver disease, who did not drink alcohol. Additionally, a group of alcoholics without liver cirrhosis was included in the study. Blood sample were obtained, and after centrifuge, serum was collected for further analysis. The activity of MMP-2, MMP-8 and MMP-9 in the blood plasma of the patients and the control group were measured by using the sandwich enzyme immunoassay technique with commercially available quantitative ELISA test kits. Activity of MMP-2, MMP-8 and MMP-9 in patients with liver cirrhosis were increased gradually according to Child-Pugh stages. The activity of MMP-2, MMP-8, MMP-9 were the highest in patients with liver cirrhosis stage C. MMP-2, MMP-8, MMP-9 concentrations in the people with liver cirrhosis (stage C) were significantly increased compared to controls. A significant difference were observed between activity MMP-2 in control group, alcoholics without liver cirrhosis, and those with liver cirrhosis (stages A, B, C according Child-Pugh score). MMP-2, MMP-8 and MMP-9 may be markers of alcoholic liver cirrhosis in the alcoholics. Elevated levels of MMP-2, MMP-8 and MMP-9 in the alcoholic patients indicated that cirrhosis has developed. The most sensitive is MMP-2, because the activity of this parameter is increased in all liver cirrhosis stages. MMP-8 and MMP-9 activity were significantly elevated only in serum patients with advanced liver cirrhosis, compared to controls.

According to the WHO report, alcohol is the third most significant health risk factor for the global population. There are contrary reports about heavy metals concentrations in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis. The aim of this study was to investigate serum concentrations of selected heavy metals in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis living in the eastern part of Poland according to cirrhosis stage. The participants came from various hospitals of the Lublin region were enrolled. The study group included 46 male and 16 female patients. The control group consisted of 18 healthy individuals without liver disease. High Performance Ion Chromatography was used to determine the concentrations of metal ions (Cd, Zn, Cu, Ni, Co, Mn, and Pb) in serum samples. The concentrations of copper, zinc, nickel, and cobalt were found to be significantly lower in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis compared to the control group. The serum concentration of cadmium was significantly higher in patients with advanced alcoholic liver cirrhosis compared to the control group. We hypothesize that disorders of metabolism of heavy metals seem to be the outcome of impaired digestion and absorption, which are common in cirrhosis, improper diet, environmental and occupational exposure.

According to some authors, serum selenium levels are strongly associated with the severity of liver diseases, including liver cirrhosis. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the concentration of selenium and pro-inflammatory and profibrotic cytokines—interleukin-6 (IL-6) and growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis. The parameters studied were determined in the serum of 99 patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis divided based on the severity of disease according to the Child-Turcotte-Pugh criteria. In patients with liver cirrhosis, the serum selenium concentration was statistically lower, whereas serum IL-6 and GDF-15 concentrations were higher than those in the control group. Moreover, the concentration of selenium negatively correlated with the levels of GDF-15 and IL-6. The above results may indicate a role of selenium deficiency in the pathogenesis and progression of alcoholic liver disease.

The rising number of patients with liver dysfunction due to overwhelming usage of drugs and alcohol has paved the path for researchers in an interest in herbal medicine. This is because there are only a few universally effective and available options for the treatment of common liver diseases, such as cirrhosis, fatty liver and chronic hepatitis. Herbal treatment has been used to alleviate disorders related to liver and other internal organs for many centuries in the eastern world, and have currently become a favourable therapy internationally for pathological liver conditions. In recent years, researchers have used scientific methods to evaluate the effects of plants for the treatment of liver ailments, although in many cases the mechanisms and modes of action of these plants, as well as their therapeutic effectiveness, have not been confirmed. Several hundred plants have been examined to-date, but only a handful has been studied thoroughly. Among these, the current study discusses a compilation of herbal medicines used for liver protection, such as Silymarin (milk thistle), Liv-52, Camellia sinensis (green tea), Glycyrrhizaglabra (licorice) and FuzhengHuayu. The increasing use of herbal medicines reflects their perceived effectiveness in the treatment and prevention of disease, and the belief that these treatments are safe because they are 'natural'. The presented study evaluates the effects of herbal extracts in the treatment of liver diseases, provides a general understanding of the actions of herbal medicines, a background for understanding the hepatoprotectiveness of herbs, and the challenges that are faced by the scientific community in researching thoroughly of each and every compounds of the herbs.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the concentrations of fetuin-A, osteoprotegerin (OPG) and α-Klotho protein in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis at different stages of the disease, and to demonstrate that fetuin-A, osteoprotegin and α-Klotho may be used as markers of the severity of cirrhosis. A total of 54 patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis treated in various hospitals in the Lublin region of Poland were randomly enrolled. The control group consisted of 18 healthy individuals without liver disease, who did not drink alcohol. Serum levels of fetuin-A, OPG and α-Klotho were measured by ELISA kits. Levels of fetuin-A were significantly reduced in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis compared with the control group. OPG levels were higher in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis than in the controls, whereas the levels of α-Klotho were comparable in the cirrhosis and control groups. No statistically significant differences in the concentrations of fetuin-A, OPG and α-Klotho protein were demonstrated according to type of liver cirrhosis. The findings of the present study revealed a significant negative correlation between the level of α-Klotho protein and C-reactive protein in the patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis. Concentrations of fetuin-A were lower, whereas those of OPG were higher, in the alcoholic liver cirrhosis group compared with the control group. Fetuin-A, OPG and α-Klotho may not be good indicators of liver cirrhosis severity. In conclusion, fetuin-A and OPG may be used in the diagnosis of liver cirrhosis.