Idiopathic neonatal hepatitis presenting as neonatal hepatic siderosis and steatosis

Hepatic steatosis and neonatal intrahepatic cholestasis caused by citrin deficiency (NICCD) in Taiwanese infants

OBJECTIVES

To explore the prevalence of hepatic steatosis and neonatal intrahepatic cholestasis caused by citrin deficiency (NICCD) in Taiwanese infants with idiopathic intrahepatic cholestasis.

STUDY DESIGN

The liver specimens from 69 infants with idiopathic intrahepatic cholestasis were reviewed (1993-2004); 11 of them (14.7%) had hepatic steatosis. Six patients with hepatic steatosis participated in the genetic study for the SLC25A13 gene under parental consent.

RESULTS

Infants with cholestasis and hepatic steatosis had lower aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels than those with cholestasis alone. Three of the six infants in the genetic study had homozygous 851del4 mutation; for the others, homozygous 1638ins23 mutation, compound heterozygous 851del4/IVS6+5G-->A mutation, and heterozygous IVS6+5G-->A mutation were found for each one. Eleven of the total 12 alleles (91.7%) were demonstrated to have SLC25A13 gene mutations.

CONCLUSIONS

Metabolic and genetic studies for NICCD should be performed in Asian infants with idiopathic intrahepatic cholestasis and hepatic steatosis. The 851del4 mutation on the SLC25A13 gene accounts for the major genotype expression of patients with NICCD in Taiwan.

Liver hepcidin and stainable iron expression in biliary atresia

Hepcidin is a proposed mammalian host defense peptide that was identified on the basis of its antimicrobial activity, but it was later shown to be a crucial regulator of iron homeostasis and a mediator of the anemia of chronic inflammation. Hepcidin and stainable iron expression in biliary atresia (BA) were investigated in this study. Fresh liver tissues were obtained from 10 patients in the early stage of BA when they underwent Kasai's procedure, 9 in the late stage of BA when they received liver transplantation and 5 controls receiving liver resection for benign lesions other than cholestasis or fibrosis. Real-time quantitative reverse-transcription PCR (QRT-PCR), immunohistochemical staining and ELISA were performed to gauge hepcidin mRNA and protein expression in liver and plasma. Archival liver specimens from patients in the early and late stages of BA were treated with Perls' acid ferrocyanide technique for hepatic stainable iron. The results demonstrated that liver hepcidin mRNA expression was 100-fold lower in late-stage BA than in the early stage by QRT-PCR. Significantly weaker liver hepcidin immunostaining and lower plasma hepcidin levels were found in late-stage BA than in the early stage. There was also significantly lower stainable iron in the liver of late-stage BA. The major site of stainable iron was in Kupffer cells. The results support a role for hepcidin as a key regulator of mammalian iron metabolism and chronic inflammation, whose expression correlates with the degree of stainable iron in BA.

Infantile cholestatic jaundice associated with adult-onset type II citrullinemia

Adult-onset type II citrullinemia, characterized by a liver-specific argininosuccinate synthetase deficiency, is caused by a deficiency of citrin that is encoded by the SLC25A13 gene. Three patients with infantile cholestatic jaundice were found to have mutations of the SLC25A13 gene. Adult-onset type II citrullinemia may be associated with infantile cholestatic disease.

Fatal haemorrhage following male ritual circumcision

Lethal complications following ritual circumcision are extremely rare, the most common being sepsis. We present here a case of fatal haemorrhage from a tiny incision of the glans, following a 'home' circumcision of a 6-week-old baby. The post-mortem examination disclosed idiopathic neonatal hepatitis. It is suggested that the previously undiagnosed hepatic condition was responsible for the fatal haemorrhage.