title: Association between plasma interleukin-18 levels and liver injury in chronic hepatitis C virus infection and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
abstract: There is significant upregulation of interleukin-18 (IL-18) expression in viral infectious diseases and in some chronic hepatic diseases, especially (i) hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, (ii) HCV infection with persistently normal ALT levels (PNAL), and (iii) non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The aim of this study was a better understanding of the implications of plasma IL-18 levels in the above-mentioned liver diseases. Thirty-four patients with HCV infection, 13 with NAFLD, and 10 controls were enrolled. The HCV-RNA and HCV-genotypes and the serum or plasma levels of IL-18, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (gamma-GT), alkaline phosphatase, total cholesterol, triglycerides, alpha(1)-fetoprotein, and ferritin were evaluated. Patients with HCV showed higher levels of IL-18 than the NAFLD patients (p <0.01) and the controls (p <0.005). Patients with NAFLD showed higher values of body mass index and liver disease parameters, compared to HCV-infected subjects or controls. These data confirm previous reports of enhanced expression of IL-18 in patients with HCV and NAFLD, compared to healthy subjects, and suggest that IL-18 is important as a marker of liver diseases.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Medicine and Science of Aging, School of Medicine, G. d'Annunzio University, 66013 Chieti, Italy. jvecchiet@unich.it
authors.forename: Jacopo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vecchiet
authors.forename: Katia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Falasca
authors.forename: Pierluigi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cacciatore
authors.forename: Pompea
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zingariello
authors.forename: Margherita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dalessandro
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marinopiccoli
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: D'Amico
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Palazzi
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Petrarca
authors.forename: Pio
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Conti
authors.forename: Eligio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pizzigallo
authors.forename: Maria Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Guagnano
mesh_terms: D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000097:blood; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D020382:Interleukin-18 / Q000097:blood*; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D020382:Interleukin-18; D000410:Alanine Transaminase; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase