Immunopathological study of Egyptian Patients with Chronic HCV Infection, Role of α-defensin, RANTES, and TNF-α | ||||
| Bulletin of Egyptian Society for Physiological Sciences | ||||
| Article 3, Volume 30, Issue 2, June 2010, Page 35-46 PDF (229.79 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/besps.2010.36296 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Authors | ||||
| Gamal Othman* 1; Ayman Elbaz1; Khaled Farid2; Ashraf Omar3; Mohamed Arafa4 | ||||
| 1Department of Medical Biochemistry, Mansoura Faculty of Medicine | ||||
| 2Department of Tropical Medicine, Mansoura Faculty of Medicine | ||||
| 3Department of Internal Medicine , Mansoura Faculty of Medicine | ||||
| 4Department of Pathology, Mansoura Faculty of Medicine | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Background: Hepatitis C virus infection and its associated liver inflammatory disease is a major global health problem affecting over 170 million people worldwide. Following viral infection, multiple pro-inflammatory mediators contribute to recruitment of immune cells to the liver and to the generation of an anti-viral immune response. Multiple recent publications mark chemokines and their receptors as key players in leukocyte recirculation through the inflamed liver. Furthermore, chemokines may also be involved in liver regeneration, fibrosis, and in malignant transformation, which is induced by the persistence of inflammation. The Aim of this Study: The present study aimed to measure serum TNF-α, RANTES and α-defensins levels in patients with chronic hepatitis C and to estimate their relation to HCV viremia as well as grade of liver inflammation and stage of fibrosis. Materials and Methods: 40 patients with chronic HCV and 20 normal controls were tested for liver function tests (Albumin, ALT, AST, ALP, Bilirubin), prothrombin activity, FBS, creatinine, CBC, AFP, HCV RNA, RANTES, TNF-α and α-defensins. Results: There were significant increase of serum levels of α-Defensins, RANTES and TNF-α in patients with chronic HCV infection compared with control group (P<0.05). α- defensins and RANTES showed significant positive correlation with HCV RNA viral load, grade of activity and stage of fibrosis while TNF-α showed significant positive correlation with grade of activity and stage of fibrosis only. Conclusion: The high linear correlation of levels of α-Defensins, RANTES and TNF- with stage of liver fibrosis and grade of activity makes the measurement of these peptides reliable markers to evaluate liver fibrosis stage. The effects of these peptides need further studies and researches on a wide scale to clarify their possible mechanisms. | ||||
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