title: Plasma concentration of bioactive lipid mediator sphingosine 1-phosphate is reduced in patients with chronic hepatitis C.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: 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
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: Ryunosuke
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ohkawa
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kume
authors.forename: Hayato
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: Haruhiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Shigeo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Okubo
authors.forename: Hiromitsu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yokota
authors.forename: Tomoaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tomiya
authors.forename: Yukiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Takako
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishikawa
authors.forename: Natsuko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ohtomo
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tanoue
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koike
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yatomi
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D001798:Blood Proteins; D006454:Hemoglobins; D008246:Lysophospholipids; D012709:Serum Albumin; C060506:sphingosine 1-phosphate; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid; D002251:Carbon Tetrachloride; D013110:Sphingosine