Background: The clinical impact of relative adrenal insufficiency (AI) on patients with stable decompensated cirrhosis (DeCi) has not been yet elucidated.
Aim: Explore the association between AI and outcome [death or liver transplantation (LT)] in patients with DeCi.
Material and methods: Patients with DeCi presenting no active complication have been included. Clinical and laboratory data, including serum levels of corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG), interleukin (IL)-1b, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNFα) were recorded in each participant. Salivary cortisol (SC) and serum total cortisol (STC) were assessed at (T0) and 1 h (T60) after intravenous injection of 250 μg corticotropin.
Results: 113 consecutive patients were totally tested. Median SC was 3.9 ng/mL and 15.5 ng/mL and median STC was 10.7 μg/dL and 22.7 μg/dL at T0 and T60 respectively. The patients with AI [group 1, n = 34 (30%)] had significantly lower systolic blood pressure (106 ± 12 vs. 113 ± 13 mmHg, p = 0.05), serum sodium (133 ± 7 vs. 137 ± 12 mEq/ L, p = 0.04), HDL (29.9 ± 14 vs. 38.6 ± 18 mg/dL, p = 0.034) and albumin (2.7 ± 0.5 vs. 3.1 ± 0.5 g/dL, p = 0.002), but higher direct bilirubin (median: 1.6 vs. 0.8 mg/dL, p = 0.029) compared to those without AI [group 2, n = 79 (70%)]. Moreover, group 1 patients presented more frequently past history of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) [10/34 (29.4%) vs. 6/79 (7.5%), p = 0.002]. AI was significantly associated with death [HR = 2.65, 95% C.I.: 1.55 - 4.52, p = 0.003 over a follow up period of 12 (6-48) months.] Conclusions. The presence of AI in patients with stable DeCi predispose to obvious clinical implications since it is associated with circulatory dysfunction, previous history of SBP and worse survival.
Keywords: Liver; MELD score; Salivary cortisol; Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis.; Survival; Total cortisol.