Clinical and Experimental Psychology

Liver is the principal site for formation and clearance of lipoproteins. It receives fatty acids and cholesterol from peripheral tissues and diet, packages them into lipoprotein complexes and releases these complexes back into the circulation. Hence it is not surprising that liver diseases can affect plasma lipid levels in a variety of ways. Chronic liver diseases due to various causes are often associated with dramatic reductions in plasma triglyceride and cholesterol level due to reduced lipoprotein biosynthetic capacity. Cholestasis is associated with hypercholesterolemia as the major excretory pathway of cholesterol is blocked in this disorder. Apart from the various complications seen in cirrhotic patients, chronic dyslipoproteinemia is one which can lead to alterations in cellular membrane lipids, that result in formation of abnormal RBCs, such as echinocytes, and alterations in membrane function with potential pathophysiologic consequences. Although several studies have been conducted on dyslipidemia in cirrhotics in developed countries, there is a paucity of data in this regard in India. As there is a high prevalence of chronic liver disease in our country, we conducted this study to determine lipid profile in patients with cirrhosis and to assess if it relates to the severity of chronic liver disease. This was a cross-sectional study .The patients were selected from liver clinic at Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, West Bengal, a tertiary care centre in the state. The study was approved by the ethics committee of the hospital and informed consent was obtained from all the subjects. We included 120 patients suffering from chronic liver disease (CLD) irrespective of etiology in the study period from January to December 2012. We excluded patients suffering from concomitant diseases, which can alter the lipid profiles, like diabetes mellitus, cancer, acute pancreatitis, recent parenteral nutrition and acute gastrointestinal bleeding, renal failure, patients who were on glucose or lipid lowering drugs .The diagnosis of chronic liver disease was based upon clinical features, liver function tests, prothrombin time, ultrasonography, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and liver biopsy wherever