[A hypothesis on the significance of an increase in serum transaminases in patients with hydatidosis treated with benzimidazole carbamates].

Increase of aminotransferases was observed in 58 out of 448 patients with hydatid disease without other risk factors (28 males and 30 females) during treatment with mebendazole and albendazole; all these patients had liver cysts. The enzymatic increase was always reversible and slight (ranged from 2-4 folds the normal values in most of patients), even without stopping treatment; it was less frequently observed during further cycles of therapy and it was never observed after surgical asportation of the cysts. Jaundice was never observed. The increase of transaminases appeared to be significantly correlated to effectiveness of therapy and to the earlier occurrence of degenerative modifications of the hydatid cysts. The authors hypothesize that besides hepatoxicity (in cases of marked increase of aminotransferases or in patients without liver cysts) slight increase of transaminases could be due to pericystic inflammation secondary to the marked host's immunitary reaction, and so could be considered as an index of therapeutic effectiveness.