title: Assessment of serum adiponectin in Egyptian patients with HCV-related cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Hepatitis C-associated insulin resistance is involved in the development of various complications including hepatocarcinogenesis. Low plasma levels of adiponectin contribute to the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and type II diabetes mellitus. The aim of this study was to determine the value of serum adiponectin in Egyptian patients with hepatitis C-related cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  90 Egyptian patients with hepatitis C-related liver cirrhosis were enrolled in this study. Patients were divided into two groups as follows: group I: 61 patients with hepatitis C-related cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, group II: 29 patients with hepatitis C-related cirrhosis (hepatocellular carcinoma was excluded in these patients at the time of recruitment in the study). Serum adiponectin level was measured and correlated with all other studied parameters.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum adiponectin was significantly lower in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and it had significant negative correlations with both the overall tumor size and the number of tumor foci. Highly significant negative correlations were found between adiponectin and all markers of insulin resistance in both groups. At a cut-off value ≤5.4 μg/ml, adiponectin had a sensitivity of 60.7%, a specificity of 93.1%, a positive predictive value of 94.9%, and a negative predictive value of 52.9% for detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (with an overall accuracy of 77.6%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An independent association exists between serum adiponectin and hepatocellular carcinoma in Egyptian patients with hepatitis C-related cirrhosis. Therapy to increase circulating adiponectin concentration might represent a novel strategy to prevent hepatitis C-related hepatic complications.
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hamdy
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt. drrehamalswaff@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Al Swaff
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Hussein
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gamal
mesh_terms: D052242:Adiponectin / Q000097:blood*; D000328:Adult; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood*; D004534:Egypt; D005260:Female; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D007333:Insulin Resistance / Q000502:physiology*; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: C499918:ADIPOQ protein, human; D052242:Adiponectin
keywords: Adiponectin; Cirrhosis; Hepatitis C; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Insulin resistance