Objectives-To determine short-term outcome for children with acute liver failure (ALF) as it relates to etiology, clinical status, patient demographics and to determine prognostic factors.Study design-A prospective, multi-center case study collecting demographic, clinical, laboratory and short-term outcome data on children from birth to 18 years with ALF. Patients without encephalopathy were included if the prothrombin time and INR remained ≥ 20 seconds and/or >2, respectively, despite vitamin K. Primary outcome measures three weeks after study entry were death, death after transplant, alive with native liver, alive with transplanted organ.Results-The etiology of ALF in 348 children included acute acetaminophen toxicity (14%), metabolic disease (10%), autoimmune liver disease (6%), non-APAP drug-related hepatotoxicity (5%), infections (6%), other diagnosed conditions (10%); 49% were indeterminate. Outcome varied between patient sub-groups; 20% with non-acetaminophen ALF died or underwent liver transplantation and never developed clinical encephalopathy.Conclusions-Etiologies of ALF in children differ from adults. Clinical encephalopathy may not be present in children. The high percentage of indeterminate cases provides an opportunity for investigation.Corresponding Address: Robert H. Squires, Jr., M.D., Professor of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 3705 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, Phone: 412-692-8181, Fax: 412-692-7355, Email: Robert.squires@chp.edu. edited by WFB Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. (11), development of a reliable prognostic score will be useful in allocating organs to the most needy patients. NIH Public AccessThe Pediatric Acute Liver Failure (PALF) study group was formed in 1999 to develop a database that would facilitate an improved understanding of the etiopathogenesis, treatment and outcome of ALF in children. These data will also serve to identify factors that will help to predict the likelihood of death or need for liver transplant. Methods OrganizationThe PALF study group began as an adjunct to the Data CollectionFollowing informed consent from a parent or legal guardian, demographic, clinical and laboratory information were recorded daily for seven days. In most patients, an additional aliquot of serum or plasma was collected on each of the seven study days, frozen at −70° C and then shipped to the Data Coordinating Center (DCC) located at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. Diagnostic evaluation and medical management were consistent with the...

This prospective study provides the first indication that a high frequency of rotavirus infections may increase the risk of celiac disease autoimmunity in childhood in genetically predisposed individuals.

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Ataxia with isolated vitamin E deficiency (AVED) is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease which maps to chromosome 8q13. AVED patients have an impaired ability to incorporate alpha-tocopherol into lipoproteins secreted by the liver, a function putatively attributable to the alpha-tocopherol transfer protein (alpha-TTP). Here we report the identification of three frame-shift mutations in the alpha TTP gene. A 744delA mutation accounts for 68% of the mutant alleles in the 17 families analysed and appears to have spread in North Africa and Italy. This mutation correlates with a severe phenotype but alters only the C-terminal tenth of the protein. Two other mutations were found in single families. The finding of alpha TTP gene mutations in AVED patients substantiates the therapeutic role of vitamin E as a protective agent against neurological damage in this disease.

Parenteral nutrition–associated liver disease (PNALD) is a serious complication of PN in infants who do not tolerate enteral feedings, especially those with acquired or congenital intestinal diseases. Yet, the mechanisms underlying PNALD are poorly understood. It has been suggested that a component of soy oil (SO) lipid emulsions in PN solutions, such as plant sterols (phytosterols), may be responsible for PNALD, and that use of fish oil (FO)–based lipid emulsions may be protective. We used a mouse model of PNALD combining PN infusion with intestinal injury to demonstrate that SO-based PN solution causes liver damage and hepatic macrophage activation and that PN solutions that are FO-based or devoid of all lipids prevent these processes. We have furthermore demonstrated that a factor in the SO lipid emulsions, stigmasterol, promotes cholestasis, liver injury, and liver macrophage activation in this model and that this effect may be mediated through suppression of canalicular bile transporter expression (Abcb11/BSEP, Abcc2/MRP2) via antagonism of the nuclear receptors Fxr and Lxr, and failure of up-regulation of the hepatic sterol exporters (Abcg5/g8/ABCG5/8). This study provides experimental evidence that plant sterols in lipid emulsions are a major factor responsible for PNALD and that the absence or reduction of plant sterols is one of the mechanisms for hepatic protection in infants receiving FO-based PN or lipid minimization PN treatment. Modification of lipid constituents in PN solutions is thus a promising strategy to reduce incidence and severity of PNALD.