title: The level of endothelin-1 and nitric oxide in patients with chronic viral hepatitis B and C and correlation with histopathological grading and staging.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to estimate the serum levels of endothelin-1 (ET-1) and nitric oxide (NO) and to analyze the correlation of their levels with histopathological grading and staging of the liver in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and C (CHC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-nine patients who were either HBsAg positive (45 CHB patients, 34 inactive carriers (IC)) or had CHC (10 patients) and 36 healthy volunteers as a control group were included in this study. Fifty patients from the CHB (n=43) or CHC (n=7) groups with elevated serum alanine transaminase (ALT) levels underwent a liver biopsy. Histological activity was scored according to Ishak's activity and the fibrotic index. The ET-1 serum concentration was determined with a commercially available ELISA assay kit. Total nitrite was measured by the Griess reaction as an index for NO production.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum levels of ET-1 and NO were significantly increased in CHB patients (7.67+/-4.00pg/ml and 172.44+/-50.30mumol/l, respectively) compared with the IC group (3.99+/-5.42pg/ml and 114.68+/-32.22mumol/l, respectively) and the control group (3.05+/-0.65pg/ml and 58.61+/-24.18mumol/l, respectively) (p<0.0001). The CHC patients also had significantly higher serum levels of ET-1 (5.92+/-4.24pg/ml) and NO (147.50+/-55.84mumol/l) compared to the control group (p<0.0001 and <0.001, respectively). Linear regression analysis identified that the level of ET-1 was an independent variable that correlated significantly with the stage score (r(2)=0.348, p<0.0001) in CHB patients but there was no correlation in the CHC group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ET-1 and NO levels were increased in chronic hepatitis and there was a significant correlation between the ET-1 level and the stage in CHB patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases & Clinical Microbiology, Inonu University School of Medicine, Turgut Ozal Medical Center, 44280 Malatya, Turkey.
authors.forename: Yasemin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ersoy
authors.forename: Nihayet Mehmet
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Bayraktar
authors.forename: Bulent
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mizrak
authors.forename: Ibrahim Halil
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Ozerol
authors.forename: Selami
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gunal
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aladag
authors.forename: Yasar
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bayindir