title: Hepatic Akt expression correlates with advanced fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C infection.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Hepatitis C virus (HCV) proteins can activate the PI3K/Akt pathway which is involved in multiple cellular functions such as inflammatory cell activation and liver fibrosis. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the correlation between Akt expression and liver fibrosis staging in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Paraffin-embedded liver sections from 133 consecutive treatment-naïve CHC patients were recruited. The expression features of Akt were analyzed using immunohistochemical methods and the results were compared with histological, virological and biochemical profiles.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 73 patients with high Akt expression carried higher histological activity index scores (6.52 ± 2.5 vs 5.62 ± 2.4, P = 0.04) and advanced fibrosis (72.7% vs 26.3%, P < 0.01) than other 60 patients with low Akt expression. The high Akt expression showed a significant incremental trend dependent on fibrosis stages, from 33.3% of F0 to 85.7% of F4 (P = 0.005). Akt expression was not correlated with degrees of steatosis and virological features of HCV infection, such as viral load and genotypes. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed advanced fibrosis was the most significant factor associated with high Akt expression (odds ratio = 3.16).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Hepatic Akt expression correlated with advanced liver fibrosis in CHC patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Municipal Hsiao-Kang Hospital Graduate Institute of Medicine Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine Faculty of Internal Medicine, College of MedicineKaohsiung Medical University, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Municipal Ta-Tung Hospital Hepatobiliary Division, Department of Internal Medicine Department of Neurology Endocrine Division, Department of Internal Medicine Department of Preventive Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jee-Fu
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Yen-Hwang
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Chuang
authors.forename: Chia-Yen
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Ming-Lung
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Chung-Feng
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Pi-Jung
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Hsiao
authors.forename: Ming-Yen
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: Ching-I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Ming-Lun
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.forename: Jeng-Fu
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Zu-Yau
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Shinn-Chern
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Wan-Long
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Chuang