Study on prevalence of hypertension in patients with liver cirrhosis

Objective To investigate the prevalence of hypertension in patients with liver cirrhosis and its relationship with tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) , cholinesterase (CHE) , substance P (SP) , nitric oxide (NO) , and adrenomedullin (ADM) . Methods A total of134 cirrhotic patients newly admitted to the hospital were selected as case group, and 268 subjects undergoing physical examination were selected as control group. Fasting blood was collected, and serum levels of TNFα, CHE, SP, NO, and ADM were determined. The two groups were compared with respect to the prevalence of hypertension and serum levels of TNFα, CHE, SP, NO, and ADM. Comparison of measurement data was made by t test, comparison of enumeration data was made by chi- square test, and comparison of ranked data was made by Kruskal- Wallis H test. Results The prevalence of hypertension for the case group (18. 66%, 25 /134) was lower than that for the control group (30. 97%, 83 /268) . Among patients with hypertension, the case group had significantly higher serum levels of TNFα, SP, NO, and ADM (t = 25. 464, 16. 649, 19. 772, and 13. 835, P < 0. 05 for all) but a significantly lower serum level of CHE ( t =- 50. 257, P < 0.05) , as compared with the control group. Conclusion Patients with liver cirrhosis has a lower prevalence of hypertension than the general population, which may be related to increases in serum vasodilating factors such as SP, NO, and ADM.