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The Use of Gas Chromatography to Analyze Compositional Changes of Fatty Acids in Rat Liver Tissue during Pregnancy
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Published on: March 13, 2014

Pregnancy and liver disease

Grace L Su1

  • 1University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor Veterans Administration Health Center, Gastroenterology Section 111D, 2215 Fuller Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, USA. gsu@umich.edu

Current Gastroenterology Reports
|April 18, 2008
PubMed

Although liver disease does not occur frequently during pregnancy, when it does, it can cause significant morbidity and mortality for both fetus and mother. Recent advances in molecular genetics have provided some insight into the pathogenesis of diseases such as intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (IHCP) and acute fatty liver of pregnancy. Newer studies linking serum bile acid levels with fetal outcome support the importance of this marker in IHCP. Randomized trials with ursodeoxycholic acid have shown promising results in reducing maternal symptoms and serum bile acid levels in IHCP. Although further studies must be performed, early strategies aimed at reducing viral loads in mothers may reduce perinatal transmission of hepatitis B.

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