Increased prevalence of intestinal inflammation in patients with liver cirrhosis

Figure 1 Fecal protein concentrations in cirrhotic patients and control subjects. The dotted area shows the 95 percentile of the control subjects. ^a: P < 0.05 by c² test; ^b: P < 0.05 ; ^c:P < 0.01 by Mann-Whitney U test.

Figure 2 Relationship between fecal protein concentrations and the severity of the liver cirrhosis. A: Child A, B: Child B, C: Child C. The dotted area shows the 95 percentile of the control subjects.

Figure 3 Relationship between fecal protein concentr ations and the presence of esophageal varices. (+): cirrhotic patients associated with esophageal varices; (-): cirrhotic patients not associated with esophagea l varices;^a: P < 0.05 by X² test.

Figure 4 Serum concentrations of albumin, total cholesterol, and choline esterase in cirrhotic patients. Comparison between groups with or without intestinal protein loss. ^a: P < 0.05, NS; not significant by Mann-Whitney U test.

Figure 5 Proposed pathophysiology of digestive tract in cirrhotic patients.