Soluble Fas and soluble Fas ligand levels in patients with acute hepatic failure.
OBJECTIVE
The Fas ligand (FasL)/Fas system is an apoptosis induction system that plays an important role in homeostasis and biophylaxis. We measured tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), soluble FasL (sFasL), and soluble Fas (sFas) in patients with acute hepatic failure to determine the relation between such failure and apoptosis.


METHODS
We assayed 21 blood samples from patients with acute hepatic failure and 8 from patients with sepsis but without acute hepatic failure. Serum TNF-alpha, sFas, and sFasL levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.


RESULTS
sFasL levels were significantly higher in the patients with acute hepatic failure than in the patients with sepsis (0.68 +/- 0.42 ng/mL vs. 0 ng/mL, P =.0001). No significant differences were observed in sFas levels between the two groups. A significant correlation was observed between TNF-alpha and sFas levels (r = 0.657, P =.0008); a negative correlation was observed between TNF-alpha and sFasL levels (r = 0.454, P =.038).


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that pathologic aggravation of acute hepatic failure are related to changes in the FasL/Fas system and that TNF-alpha and sFasL, in particular, may play hepatoprotective roles.
Nakae
H
H
Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, Akita University School of Medicine, Akita, Japan.
Narita
K
K
Endo
S
S
D000368:Aged; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017114:Liver Failure, Acute / Q000097:blood / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D018805:Sepsis / Q000097:blood / Q000503:physiopathology; D012995:Solubility; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000032:analysis*; D019014:fas Receptor / Q000097:blood*
D015415:Biomarkers; C505661:FASLG protein, human; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D019014:fas Receptor