engleski

The role of Interleukin-17 in liver inflammation and fibrosis

Background and Purpose : So far published data have implicated IL-17 in the promotion of liver fibrosis since it facilitates the influx of inflammatory cells, leading to the expression of profibrogenic growth factors and activation of hepatic stellate cells, so it could be considered to be a profibrotic cytokine. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence and level of interleukin-17 in sera of patients with various liver diseases and healthy controls. Methodology: Two hundred five (205) patients (age 21-84 years ; median 60) with liver disease (33 with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 51 with liver cirrhosis, 43 with viral hepatitis B or C, 50 with autoimmune liver disease (ALD), 21 with non- alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), 7 pts of non- defined inflammatory liver disease) and 28 healthy controls, were included. Serum interleukin-17 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results and Discussion: Levels of circulating of interleukin-17 in patients with liver disease of any origin (1, 04 -86, 99 pg/ml ; Median 5, 54 pg/ml) were significantly higher than those in healthy controls (1, 04-10, 22 pg/ml ; Median 1, 66). Highest levels were found in patients with liver cirrhosis (1, 98-38, 5 pg/mL ; Median 9, 8) while HCC, autoimmune liver diseases, NAFLD and viral hepatitis had lower levels (1, 27-22 pg/mL ; Median 5, 7, 1.72-72 pg/mL ; Median 3, 5, 1, 02-40, 7 pg/mL ; Median 4, 7, 1, 2-36, 9pg/mL ; Median 3, 73 respectively) but still higher than the healthy controls. Statistically significant difference was found in intrelukin-17 levels between patients with ALD and HCC (P=0.0073) ; ALD, viral hepatitis and HCC and cirrhosis p=0, 0001, p=0.0217, p=0, 0023, respectively. Conclusion: According to those preliminary data circulating IL17 could be a promising prognostic marker of liver inflammation and fibrosis state. Since there was a significantly lower level of IL17 in patients with HCC compared to cirrhosis could we predict the development of HCC with a drop in IL17? Further investigations are surely needed to clarify the role of IL17 in inflammation as well as in organ fibrosis.

Liver fibrosis, liver inflammation, Interleukin 17

nije evidentirano