[Endocrine changes in children with acute viral hepatitis]

The paper is concerned with the results of hormonal studies on virus hepatitis in 84 children aged 2 to 14, of them 28 had a mild form of disease, 50--medium grave and 6--a severe form of disease. A study was made of the blood content of ACTH, STH, TSH, cortisol, aldosterone, T3, T4, prolactin, and alpha-fetoprotein. The hormones were determined by a radioimmunoassay using Sorin kits (France). A considerable increase in the blood content of ACTH, cortisol, aldosterone and a moderate increase in STH, TSH and T4 concentrations were noted at the height of virus hepatitis. The above changes were interpreted as a result of combined manifestation of a stress reaction and a decrease in the catabolism of some liver hormones. An assumption has been made of a possibility of the effect of late hormonal shifts on the outcome of virus hepatitis of development of chronic hepatitis.