ABSTRACT
Background/Aim: Heat shock protein 70 [HSP70] is a member of heat shock protein family It has strong cytoprotective properties that prevent cell death triggered by stressful stimuli The aim of this work was to study the immunohistochemical expression of HSP70 in chronic HCV biopsies among Egyptian patients
Methods: Immunohistochemical stain using HSP70 was performed on 30 chronic hepatitis C needle biopsies, with different degrees of disease severity
Results: Positive HSP70 immunoreactivity was detected in 12/30 [40%] of the chronic hepatitis specimens with weak to moderate intensity. No statistically significant difference was detected between the mean of HSP70 expression and the following parameters; age, gender, necroinflammatory grade and stage of fibrosis [p=0.109, p=0.874, p=0.342 and p=0.182] respectively
Conclusion: Detection of HSP70 in chronic hepatitis specimens suggested that chronic inflammation and fibrosis act as stressful conditions which result in induction of HSP70 expression. HSP70 prevents stress induced apoptosis which may enhance viral replication by preserving the viral factory. Therefore, we can suggested that HSP70 may act as a therapeutic target to treat HCV infection by targeting host proteins as opposed to viral proteins to minimize the development of resistance to therapy