Plasma and platelet serotonin levels in patients with liver cirrhosis

AIM: To analyze the relationship between plasma and platelet serotonin levels and the degree of liver insufficiency. METHODS: The prospective study included 30 patients with liver cirrhosis and 30 healthy controls. The degree of liver failure was assessed according to the Child-Pugh classification. Platelet and platelet poor plasma serotonin levels were determined. RESULTS: The mean plasma serotonin level was higher in liver cirrhosis patients than in healthy subjects (215.0 +/- 26.1 vs 63.1 +/- 18.1 nmol/L; P < 0.0001). The mean platelet serotonin content was not significantly different in patients with liver cirrhosis compared with healthy individuals (4.8 +/- 0.6; 4.2 +/- 0.3 nmol/platelet; P > 0.05). Plasma serotonin levels were significantly higher in Child-Pugh grade A/B than in grade C patients (246.8 +/- 35.0 vs 132.3 +/- 30.7 nmol/L; P < 0.05). However, platelet serotonin content was not significantly different between Child-Pugh grade C and grade A/B (4.6 +/- 0.7 vs 5.2 +/- 0.8 nmol/platelet; P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Plasma serotonin levels are significantly higher in patients with cirrhosis than in the controls and represent the degree of liver insufficiency. In addition, platelet poor plasma serotonin estimation is a better marker for liver insufficiency than platelet serotonin content. (C) 2007 WJG. All rights reserved.