Dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DDP IV) in NASH patients.
OBJECTIVE
Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a chronic liver disease with unknown etiology. The insulin resistance, immune mechanisms and oxidative stress are the main factors in its pathogenesis. Dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPPIV) or CD26 is a protein with endocrine and immune functions. This study aimed to elicudate the changes related to DPPIV in NASH patients.


METHODS
Serum and urinary DPPIV activities were measured in 31 NASH patients and 17 healthy controls. The liver biopsies of 29 patients were immunolabeled for CD26.


RESULTS
The mean age of patients were 46 +/- 11 years and 14 (45%) of them were female. The serum DPPIV activity was higher in patients (57.3 +/- 7.8 U/L) than controls (43.6 +/- 10.6 U/L) (p < 0.0001), and correlated with the histopathological grade (p = 0.038, r = 0.373) and hepatosteatosis (p = 0.018, r = 0.423) but not with stage (p = 0.286), class (p = 0.286) or CD26 staining (p = 0.743). The urinary DPPIV activity was similar in patients (1.52 +/- 0.94 U/mmol creatinine) and controls (1.37 +/- 0.68 U/mmol creatinine) (p = 0.861). Three acinar zones of liver had equal CD26 expression (p = 0.076). The intensity of CD26 immunostaining was correlated with histopathological grade (p = 0.001) and hepatosteatosis (p = 0.003) but no correlation with stage or class could be detected (p = 0.610 and 0.956, respectively). In


CONCLUSIONS
The serum DPPIV activity and the staining intensity of CD26 in liver are correlated with histopathologic grade of NASH and hepatosteatosis. DPPIV can be proposed as a novel candidate with several potential functions in NASH pathogenesis.
Balaban
Yasemin H
YH
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Bolu - Turkey. ybalaban@superonline.com
Korkusuz
Petek
P
Simsek
Halis
H
Gokcan
Hale
H
Gedikoglu
Gokhan
G
Pinar
Asli
A
Hascelik
Gulsen
G
Asan
Esin
E
Hamaloglu
Erhan
E
Tatar
Gonca
G
D000328:Adult; D018819:Dipeptidyl Peptidase 4 / Q000097:blood* / Q000652:urine*; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006505:Hepatitis / Q000201:enzymology*; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D018819:Dipeptidyl Peptidase 4