Hepatitis C is Associated with High Levels of Circulating N-Terminal Pro-Brain Natriuretic Peptide and Interleukin-6

A Antonelli,A Di Domenicantonio,S Marchi,N De Bortoli,C Mancusi,S.M Ferrari,M.R Metelli,F Bruschi,P Fallahi,C Ferri

doi:10.1177/1721727x1201000117

Abstract

To our knowledge, no study has evaluated N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP) together with interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interferon (IFN)-gamma serum levels in a large series of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) as possible markers of cardiac dysfunction. NTproBNP and IL-6 serum levels were valued in 55 HCV-patients, and in 55 sex- and age-matched controls. HCV-patients showed significantly higher mean NTproBNP and IL-6 levels than controls ( P = 0.001); no significant difference was observed for IFN-gamma. By defining high NTproBNP level as a value higher than 300 pg/mL (that is used to rule out heart failure in patients under 75 years of age), 12% (6/49) of HCV-patients and 0 of controls had NTproBNP (χ2; P = 0.012). In conclusion, this study demonstrates high levels of circulating NTproBNP and IL-6 in HCV-patients. The increase of NTproBNP may indicate the presence of a subclinical cardiac dysfunction. Further prospective studies quantifying symptoms and correlating these with echocardiography parameters are needed to confirm this association.

Highlights

To our knowledge, no study has evaluated N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP) together with interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interferon (IFN)-gamma serum levels in a large series of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) as possible markers of cardiac dysfunction
Several studies have suggested that hepatitis C virus (HCY) infection is frequently found in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy [1, 2], and it has been suggested that HCY infection may contribute to the development of this unusual form of myocarditis [3,4,5,6]
Our study demonstrates significantly high serum levels of NTproBNP together with IL-6 in patients with HCY-patients compared to healthy controls

Summary

Introduction

No study has evaluated N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP) together with interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interferon (IFN)-gamma serum levels in a large series of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) as possible markers of cardiac dysfunction. NTproBNP and IL-6 serum levels were valued in 55 HCV-patients, and in 55 sex- and age-matched controls. By defining high NTproBNP level as a value higher than 300 pg/mL (that is used to rule out heart failure in patients under 75 years of age), 12% (6/49) of HCV-patients and 0 of controls had NTproBNP (X2; P = 0.012). The aim of this study is to evaluate serum levels of NTproBNP and IL-6 in a series of HCY-patients, and to correlate these parameters with the clinical features of the disease

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion