الفهرس Only 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The emergence and rapid growth of pediatrics hepatology as a specific and focused field of interest offers a unique opportunity to develop effective strategies to prevent progressive liver injury and to develop novel therapeutic regiments to reduce the need for OLT (orthotopic liver transplantation)0 Chronic hepatitis is defined as a chronic inflammatory reaction in the liver continuing without improvement for at least 6 months. In children, the term chronic hepatitis encompasses a wide spectrum of disorders which differ in respect to etiology, natural history, and response to treatment. The spectrum of severity is also broad, ranging from asymptomatic biochemical abnormalities to chronic symptomatic liver diseases and liver failure. The liver plays a major role in the maintenance of whole body iron homeostasis by serving as the major storage organ for iron. Iron which is available to the hepatocytes in excess of requirements used for utilization for haem synthesis or for the synthesis of iron-containing proteins is stored primarily as ferritin as free iron is harmful and toxic. Ferritin is the major iron storage protein.