INCREASED OXIDATIVE-METABOLISM OF PARACETAMOL IN PATIENTS WITH HEPATOCELLULAR-CARCINOMA

Oxidative metabolism (OM) of paracetamol was studied in 19 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 39 with chronic hepatitis B virus infection (CHBV) and 26 healthy controls. Paracetamol (1.5 g) was given and the subsequent 24 h urine collection assayed for paracetamol and its metabolites by HPLC. HCC patients showed greatly increased OM, as reflected by the combined fractional recoveries of mercapturic acid and cysteine conjugates (22%), in comparison with controls (7%) and CHBV patients (10%). As the cytochrome P-450 dependent OM of xenobiotics has been implicated in carcinogenesis, it is interesting that two CHBV patients also had increased OM.