Anakwue Angel-Mary, Anakwue Raphael, Okeji Mark, Idigo Felicitas, Agwu Kenneth, Nwogu Uloma
University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Department of Radiography and Radiological Sciences.
University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Medicine, Pharmacology/Therapeutics.
Afr Health Sci. 2017 Mar;17(1):270-277. doi: 10.4314/ahs.v17i1.33.
Exposure to petroleum products has been shown to have significant adverse effects on the liver which can manifest either as morphological or physiological changes.
The aim of the study was to assess the effects of chronic exposure to some petroleum products on the liver of exposed workers using sonography and to determine whether biochemical assessments underestimated hepatotoxicity.
Abdominal ultrasound was performed on 415 exposed workers in order to evaluate liver echogenicity and size. Also, biochemical assessment of the liver was done to evaluate its function.
Statistically significant increase in the liver parenchymal echogenicity and the liver size was seen in the exposed workers compared with control (p ≤ 0.05). These increased as the exposure duration increased. It was also noted that out of 16.87% (N=70) exposed workers with abnormal liver echopattern, only 2.65% (N=11) had alanine aminotransferase above the reference range.
The study revealed evidence of ultrasound detectable hepatotoxicity among the exposed subjects. Sonography appeared to detect petroleum products-induced hepatic toxicity more than biochemical assays suggesting that biochemical assessment may have underestimated toxicity.
已表明接触石油产品会对肝脏产生重大不利影响，可表现为形态学或生理学变化。
本研究的目的是使用超声检查评估长期接触某些石油产品对接触工人肝脏的影响，并确定生化评估是否低估了肝毒性。
对415名接触工人进行腹部超声检查，以评估肝脏回声性和大小。此外，对肝脏进行生化评估以评估其功能。
与对照组相比，接触工人的肝脏实质回声性和肝脏大小有统计学意义的增加（p≤0.05）。这些随着接触时间的增加而增加。还注意到，在肝脏回声模式异常的16.87%（N=70）接触工人中，只有2.65%（N=11）的丙氨酸氨基转移酶高于参考范围。
该研究揭示了接触人群中存在超声可检测到的肝毒性证据。超声检查似乎比生化检测更能检测到石油产品引起的肝毒性，这表明生化评估可能低估了毒性。
