Changes in the plethysmogram patterns of finger reactive hyperemia in nutritional (alcoholic) liver disease patients with increased serum monoamine oxidase activities.

The activity levels of serum monoamine oxidase in nutritional (alcoholic) liver disease patients were elevated beyond the upper normal limit, while those of other subjects without pathologically accelerated fibrosis ranged within normal values. Capillaroscopic and plethysmographic studies on finger reactive hyperemia revealed that two characteristic changes in the blood microcirculation, which indicated an occurrence of increased fibritic process in the capillary wall and skin tissues, were observed only in the nutritional (alcoholic) liver disease patients with the elevated serum monoamine oxidase levels. These results suggested that nutritional (alcoholic) liver disease is not a disease restricted to liver tissues, but to a disorder creating pathological fibrosis in the whole-body.