Plasma concentration of bioactive lipid mediator sphingosine 1-phosphate is reduced in patients with chronic hepatitis C.
BACKGROUND
Bioactive lipid mediator S1P has been suggested to play pathophysiological roles in various fields of clinical science as a circulating paracrine mediator. We previously established a reliable method of measuring plasma S1P concentration, and reported that the one in healthy subjects has a gender difference and a correlation with red blood cell (RBC)-parameters, however, the reports of S1P measurements in the blood in patients with a specific disease have been scarce. Because our previous evidence suggests that S1P is involved in liver pathophysiology, we examined plasma S1P concentration in chronic hepatitis C patients.


METHODS
S1P assay was performed using a high-performance liquid chromatography system.


RESULTS
Plasma S1P concentrations were reduced in chronic hepatitis C patients compared with in healthy subjects with the same hemoglobin concentration, irrespective of gender. Among the blood parameters, serum hyaluronic acid concentration, a surrogate marker for liver fibrosis, was most closely and inversely correlated with plasma S1P concentration. Furthermore, plasma S1P concentration decreased throughout the progression of carbon tetrachloride-induced liver fibrosis in rats.


CONCLUSIONS
Plasma S1P concentration was reduced in chronic hepatitis C patients, and liver fibrosis might be involved, at least in part, in the mechanism responsible for this reduction.
Ikeda
Hitoshi
H
Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan. ikeda-1im@h.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Ohkawa
Ryunosuke
R
Watanabe
Naoko
N
Nakamura
Kazuhiro
K
Kume
Yukio
Y
Nakagawa
Hayato
H
Yoshida
Haruhiko
H
Okubo
Shigeo
S
Yokota
Hiromitsu
H
Tomiya
Tomoaki
T
Inoue
Yukiko
Y
Nishikawa
Takako
T
Ohtomo
Natsuko
N
Tanoue
Yasushi
Y
Koike
Kazuhiko
K
Yatomi
Yutaka
Y
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002251:Carbon Tetrachloride / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid / Q000097:blood; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced; D008246:Lysophospholipids / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010976:Platelet Count; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000378:metabolism; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013110:Sphingosine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood
D001798:Blood Proteins; D006454:Hemoglobins; D008246:Lysophospholipids; D012709:Serum Albumin; C060506:sphingosine 1-phosphate; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid; D002251:Carbon Tetrachloride; D013110:Sphingosine