title: Serum neopterin levels in children with hepatitis-B-related chronic liver disease and its relationship to disease severity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate serum neopterin levels and their correlations with liver function tests and histological grade in children with hepatitis-B-related chronic liver disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study population comprised 48 patients with chronic active hepatitis B, 32 patients with hepatitis-B-related active liver cirrhosis and 40 normal controls. Serum neopterin was measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean +/- SD serum neopterin levels were 14.2 +/- 5.6 nmol/L in patients with chronic hepatitis, 20.3 +/- 7.9 nmol/L in patients with liver cirrhosis and 5.2 +/- 1.4 nmol/L in control group. Serum neopterin levels were significantly higher in patients with chronic hepatitis (P = 0.005) and cirrhosis patients (P = 0.008), than in control subjects. Cirrhotic patients had significantly higher serum neopterin levels than patients with chronic hepatitis (P = 0.004). There was a positive correlation between serum neopterin levels and alanine aminotransferase levels in patients with chronic hepatitis (r = 0.41, P = 0.004) and cirrhotic patients (r = 0.39, P = 0.005). Positive correlations were detected between serum neopterin levels and inflammatory score in patients with chronic hepatitis (r = 0.51, P = 0.003) and cirrhotic patients (r = 0.49, P = 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that serum neopterin levels can be considered as a marker of inflammatory activity and severity of disease in children with hepatitis-B-related chronic liver disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Istanbul Bakirkoy Maternity and Children Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. mahirgulcan@superonline.com
authors.forename: Enver Mahir
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Gulcan
authors.forename: Ipek
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tirit
authors.forename: Ayse
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Anil
authors.forename: Erdal
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Adal
authors.forename: Gulsen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ozbay
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D019798:Neopterin / Q000097:blood*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D019798:Neopterin