TY - JOUR
T1 - Elevated Levels of IL-33, IL-17 and IL-25 Indicate the Progression from Chronicity to Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Hepatitis C Virus Patients
AU - Askoura, Momen
AU - Abbas, Hisham A.
AU - Alsadoun, Hadeel
AU - Abdulaal, Wesam H.
AU - Abu Lila, Amr S.
AU - Almansour, Khaled
AU - Alshammari, Farhan
AU - Khafagy, El Sayed
AU - Ibrahim, Tarek S.
AU - Hegazy, Wael A.H.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2022/1
Y1 - 2022/1
N2 - Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the most epidemic viral infections in the world. Three-quarters of individuals infected with HCV become chronic. As a consequence of persistent inflam-mation, a considerable percentage of chronic patients progress to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and finally hepatocellular carcinoma. Cytokines, which are particularly produced from T-helper cells, play a crucial role in immune protection against HCV and the progression of the disease as well. In this study, the role of interleukins IL-33, IL-17, and IL-25 in HCV patients and progression of disease from chronicity to hepatocellular carcinoma will be characterized in order to use them as biomarkers of disease progression. The serum levels of the tested interleukins were measured in patients suffering from chronic hepatitis C (CHC), hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and healthy controls (C), and their levels were correlated to the degree of liver fibrosis, liver fibrosis markers and viral load. In contrast to the IL-25 serum level, which increased in patients suffering from HCC only, the serum levels of both IL-33 and IL-17 increased significantly in those patients suffering from CHC and HCC. In addition, IL-33 serum level was found to increase by liver fibrosis progression and viral load, in contrast to both IL-17 and IL-25. Current results indicate a significant role of IL-33 in liver inflammation and fibrosis progress in CHC, whereas IL-17 and IL-25 may be used as biomarkers for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma.
AB - Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the most epidemic viral infections in the world. Three-quarters of individuals infected with HCV become chronic. As a consequence of persistent inflam-mation, a considerable percentage of chronic patients progress to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and finally hepatocellular carcinoma. Cytokines, which are particularly produced from T-helper cells, play a crucial role in immune protection against HCV and the progression of the disease as well. In this study, the role of interleukins IL-33, IL-17, and IL-25 in HCV patients and progression of disease from chronicity to hepatocellular carcinoma will be characterized in order to use them as biomarkers of disease progression. The serum levels of the tested interleukins were measured in patients suffering from chronic hepatitis C (CHC), hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and healthy controls (C), and their levels were correlated to the degree of liver fibrosis, liver fibrosis markers and viral load. In contrast to the IL-25 serum level, which increased in patients suffering from HCC only, the serum levels of both IL-33 and IL-17 increased significantly in those patients suffering from CHC and HCC. In addition, IL-33 serum level was found to increase by liver fibrosis progression and viral load, in contrast to both IL-17 and IL-25. Current results indicate a significant role of IL-33 in liver inflammation and fibrosis progress in CHC, whereas IL-17 and IL-25 may be used as biomarkers for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma.
KW - Chronic hepatitis C (CHC)
KW - Hepatitis C virus (HCV)
KW - Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
KW - IL-17
KW - IL-25
KW - IL-33
KW - Interleukins
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85122092662&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/pathogens11010057
DO - 10.3390/pathogens11010057
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85122092662
SN - 2076-0817
VL - 11
JO - Pathogens
JF - Pathogens
IS - 1
M1 - 57
ER -
