AIM: In the inflammatory state, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cellular adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) play a key role in promoting migration of immunological cells from the circulation to targe...AIM: In the inflammatory state, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cellular adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) play a key role in promoting migration of immunological cells from the circulation to target site.Aim of our study was to investigate soluble forms of these molecules in patients with virus-related chronic liver diseases, to assess their behavior in different pathologies and correlation with severity of liver damage.METHODS: Circulating ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 were assayed by EIA commercial kits (R&D System Co.,Abington, UK) in 23 patients with chronic active hepatitis (CH), 50 subjects affected by liver cirrhosis (LC) and 15 healthy controls comparable for sex and age. In patients, serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were also detected by autoanalyzer.RESULTS: LC patients had significantly higher ICAM-1 values than CH patients (38.56±7.4 ng/mL vs 20.89±6.42 ng/mL; P＜0.001) and these ones had significantly higher values than controls (12.92±1.08 ng/mL; P＜0.001). In CH group, ICAM-1 levels were significantly related to inflammatory activity (P= 0.041) and ALT values (r= 0.77;P＜0.05). VCAM-1 values were significantly increased only in LC patients (P＜0.001) and related to severity of liver impairment.CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the determination of serum ICAM-1 can be considered as an additional useful marker of hepatocellular necrosis and inflammatory activity in chronic hepatitis, while serum VCAM-1 is an indicator of liver fibrogenesis and severity of disease in cirrhosis.展开更多
TO THE EDITORIn a recent paper[1], and in a subsequent letter[2], Tacke et al. reported the investigation of plasma erythropoietin (Epo) levels in patients affected by chronic liver disease of various aetiologies. The...TO THE EDITORIn a recent paper[1], and in a subsequent letter[2], Tacke et al. reported the investigation of plasma erythropoietin (Epo) levels in patients affected by chronic liver disease of various aetiologies. The authors also compared[2] their data to our previous work[3]. The results show a substantial agreement but also some important differences between the two works. We would like to highlight, from our point of view, this issue. Both the papers demonstrated increased Epo values in anaemic cirrhotic subjects when compared to healthy controls and non-anemic patients with liver disease.展开更多
文摘AIM: In the inflammatory state, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cellular adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) play a key role in promoting migration of immunological cells from the circulation to target site.Aim of our study was to investigate soluble forms of these molecules in patients with virus-related chronic liver diseases, to assess their behavior in different pathologies and correlation with severity of liver damage.METHODS: Circulating ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 were assayed by EIA commercial kits (R&D System Co.,Abington, UK) in 23 patients with chronic active hepatitis (CH), 50 subjects affected by liver cirrhosis (LC) and 15 healthy controls comparable for sex and age. In patients, serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were also detected by autoanalyzer.RESULTS: LC patients had significantly higher ICAM-1 values than CH patients (38.56±7.4 ng/mL vs 20.89±6.42 ng/mL; P＜0.001) and these ones had significantly higher values than controls (12.92±1.08 ng/mL; P＜0.001). In CH group, ICAM-1 levels were significantly related to inflammatory activity (P= 0.041) and ALT values (r= 0.77;P＜0.05). VCAM-1 values were significantly increased only in LC patients (P＜0.001) and related to severity of liver impairment.CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the determination of serum ICAM-1 can be considered as an additional useful marker of hepatocellular necrosis and inflammatory activity in chronic hepatitis, while serum VCAM-1 is an indicator of liver fibrogenesis and severity of disease in cirrhosis.
文摘TO THE EDITORIn a recent paper[1], and in a subsequent letter[2], Tacke et al. reported the investigation of plasma erythropoietin (Epo) levels in patients affected by chronic liver disease of various aetiologies. The authors also compared[2] their data to our previous work[3]. The results show a substantial agreement but also some important differences between the two works. We would like to highlight, from our point of view, this issue. Both the papers demonstrated increased Epo values in anaemic cirrhotic subjects when compared to healthy controls and non-anemic patients with liver disease.
