[Hormone levels in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis].

The purpose of the study was to evaluate some of the hormones in 20 patients with alcoholic cirrhosis. We investigated the diurnal rhythmicity of some of the hormones (cortisol, follicle-stimulating hormone-FSH, luteinizing hormone-LH, growth hormone-LH, prolactin-PRL) and basal serum concentrations of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4) and testosterone, as well as gastrin and insulin, using provocative tests. Statistical analysis of the results obtained from the observed patients compared with controls, showed significantly lower concentrations of T3 (p less than 0.05), cortisol (p less than 0.05), testosterone (p less than 0.05) and FSH (p less than 0.05), and significantly higher (p less than 0.01) serum concentration of prolactin. Then, in the cirrhotic group the serum concentrations of gastrin and insulin increased significantly (p less than 0.01), together with the disorders of carbohydrate metabolism (impaired glucose tolerance and diabetes mellitus. The described disturbances of some of the observed hormones are complex, particularly in their relationship by which the clinical picture of the cirrhotic patients can be explained.