III. Studying Hepatitis Syndrome Requires Connection to Endocrinology

III. Studying Hepatitis Syndrome Requires Connection to Endocrinology

Hepatitis itself is extremely complex; extrahepatic syndromes in viral hepatitis are numerous. Some syndromes can be studied from an immunological perspective, such as the study of antigen-antibody complexes, which reveal that hepatitis is often accompanied by joint inflammation, glomerulonephritis, and allergic dermatitis. Liver disease clinical syndromes are closely related to endocrinology—low-grade fever, testicular atrophy, gynecomastia in men, spider angiomas, liver palms, thyroid cysts, cystic breast disease, multiple ailments, functional uterine bleeding, uterine fibroids, menstrual delays, scanty periods, oligomenorrhea, amenorrhea, infertility, adrenal insufficiency, and pigmentation disorders—all require endocrine indicators. Low-grade fever in hepatitis is widely recognized, yet few people connect low-grade fever with endocrine factors. In the 1960s, researchers confirmed that intermediate metabolites of endocrine metabolism, such as prilocaine and progesterone, are pyrogenic substances. Normally, these substances are lipidized in the liver and transformed into non-pyrogenic compounds; however, in diseased livers, lipidization functions decline, revealing the pyrogenic effects of ketones. Fever in liver disease is often attributed to Yin deficiency with dampness or Qi deficiency in Traditional Chinese Medicine. The former is treated with Wuling San, while the latter is treated with Buzhong Yiqi Tang.