Background: Hepatitis C virus infection and its associated liver inflammatory
disease is a major global health problem affecting over 170 million people
worldwide. Following viral infection, multiple pro-inflammatory mediators contribute
to recruitment of immune cells to the liver and to the generation of an anti-viral
immune response. Multiple recent publications mark chemokines and their receptors
as key players in leukocyte recirculation through the inflamed liver. Furthermore,
chemokines may also be involved in liver regeneration, fibrosis, and in malignant
transformation, which is induced by the persistence of inflammation. The Aim of this
Study: The present study aimed to measure serum TNF-α, RANTES and α-defensins
levels in patients with chronic hepatitis C and to estimate their relation to HCV
viremia as well as grade of liver inflammation and stage of fibrosis. Materials and
Methods: 40 patients with chronic HCV and 20 normal controls were tested for liver
function tests (Albumin, ALT, AST, ALP, Bilirubin), prothrombin activity, FBS,
creatinine, CBC, AFP, HCV RNA, RANTES, TNF-α and α-defensins. Results: There
were significant increase of serum levels of α-Defensins, RANTES and TNF-α in
patients with chronic HCV infection compared with control group (P<0.05). α-
defensins and RANTES showed significant positive correlation with HCV RNA viral
load, grade of activity and stage of fibrosis while TNF-α showed significant positive
correlation with grade of activity and stage of fibrosis only. Conclusion: The high
linear correlation of levels of α-Defensins, RANTES and TNF- with stage of liver
fibrosis and grade of activity makes the measurement of these peptides reliable
markers to evaluate liver fibrosis stage. The effects of these peptides need further
studies and researches on a wide scale to clarify their possible mechanisms.