Abstract
BackgroundStudies have revealed that resistin plays a role as an intrahepatic cytokine with proinflammatory activities. This study investigated the association between serum resistin and fibrosis severity and the possible marker role of resistin in the inflammatory process of chronic hepatitis B.MethodsIn this study, 234 subjects with HBV infection were retrospectively selected, including 85 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), 70 patients with HBV-related liver cirrhosis (LC-B), and 79 patients with HBV-related liver failure (LF-B). Serum levels of resistin, IL-1, IL-6, IL-17, IL-23, TNF-α, and TGF-β1 were assayed by ELISA. Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients were extracted from clinical databases of Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, including serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total bilirubin (TBil), and liver stiffness (LS).ResultsAll the selected patients with HBV infection showed significantly increased levels of serum resistin, which was rarely detectable in the healthy controls. Serum resistin levels in patients with CHB, LC-B, and LF-B were 4.119 ± 5.848 ng/mL, 6.370 ± 6.834 ng/mL, and 6.512 ± 6.076 ng/mL, respectively. Compared with the CHB group, patients with LC-B or LF-B presented with significantly higher serum levels of resistin (p < 0.01). On the other hand, all of the enrolled patients had high serum levels of IL-1, IL-6, IL-17, TNF-α, and TGF-β1, but not IL-23. Interestingly, serum levels of resistin was significantly positively correlated with serum levels of TGF-β1 in LC-B patients (R = 0.3090, p = 0.0290), with IL-17 in LC-B (R = 0.4022, p = 0.0038) and LF-B patients (R = 0.5466, p < 0.0001), and with AST (R = 0.4501, p = 0.0036) and LS (R = 0.3415, p = 0.0310) in CHB patients.ConclusionsHigh serum resistin associates with intrahepatic inflammation and necrosis and may be used as an index of disease severity for patients with chronic HBV infection.
Highlights
Studies have revealed that resistin plays a role as an intrahepatic cytokine with proinflammatory activities
Patient characteristics After applying the criteria described above, 234 patients were selected for the present study: 85 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), 70 patients with Liver cirrhosis (LC)-B, and 79 patients with Liver failure (LF)-B
The primary analyses of this study focused on serum levels of resistin, IL-1, IL-6, IL-17, IL-23, Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and TGF-β1, which were generally determined using serum samples obtained upon patients’ initial presentation in the Department of Infectious Diseases, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine
Summary
Studies have revealed that resistin plays a role as an intrahepatic cytokine with proinflammatory activities. HBV infection is the most common cause of chronic liver injury and a major cause of liver cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver failure [1]. It is generally accepted that HBV is not directly cytopathic; HBV-related hepatocellular injuries are the results of the complex interplay among HBVs, hepatocytes, and host immune cells [3, 4]. Cytotoxic Tlymphocytes (CTLs), the core of cellular immunity, play a key role in the clearance of intracellular viruses, which are the major cause of cell apoptosis or necrosis [5]. It is generally accepted that HBV-specific CD8+ T cells have important functions in controlling HBV replication in the liver without causing hepatic necroinflammation, whereas non-specific CTLs may contribute to HBV-related intrahepatic inflammation [7]
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