Breath tests in hepatology Karolina Piwczyńska, Marek Woynarowski Medical Science Review - Hepatologia 2011; 11 87-93 aaICID: 970954
Article type: Review article
IC™ Value: 3.40
Abstract provided by Publisher
Breath tests with 13C marked compounds metabolized in the liver are modern
tests for diagnosis of the liver function. The measurement of 13C labeled CO2 in the exhealed
air allows to evaluate the selected metabolic tracks. There are several substances that can be
used in the breath test in hepatology. They are metabolized in microsomes (aminopyrine, phenacetine,
methacetine, caffeine, diazepam and erythromycine), liver cell cytoplasm (galactose,
phenylalanine) or mitochondria (a-ketoisocaproic acid, methionine and octaonate acid). The
paper describes the clinical experience with breath tests in hepatology. They are promising
however up to now breath test did not replace the standard methods of liver function testing.
