Serum levels of bcl-2 and cellular oxidative stress in patients with viral hepatitis.

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to investigate the presence of bcl-2 protein in the serum of patients with viral hepatitis and to find out if there is any correlation between bcl-2 protein levels and cellular oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of viral hepatitis. METHODS: This study was carried out on 130 patients with viral hepatitis, 70 with chronic hepatitis, 30 with liver cirrhosis and 30 with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in addition to 20 healthy persons as the control. Serum bcl-2 protein was estimated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, serum malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO) and antioxidant enzymes (GSH, GSH-px, GR and SOD) were measured using spectrophotometric analysis. RESULTS: bcl-2 protein level was significantly elevated in the serum of HCC, cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis groups as compared to control group. There were significant positive correlations between higher bcl-2 protein level and viral hepatitis markers (HBsAg, anti-HCV antibodies) in HCC and cirrhotic patients as compared to chronic hepatitis group. An increase in oxidative stress markers (MDA, NO) and a decrease in antioxidant enzyme activities (SOD, GSH and GSH-px) were observed. However, there was a negative correlation between bcl-2 levels and GR in all studied patient groups. CONCLUSIONS: The release of oxidative free radicals, deficiency in antioxidant enzymes and the expression of bcl-2 protein might play a role in the pathogenesis of viral hepatitis. The ability to measure bcl-2 protein in the serum could be useful as a prognostic marker of cancer patients.

Efeito do interferon-alfa sobre a expressão de genes do sistema IGF em pacientes portadores de hepatite C / Effet of interferon-a on the IGF gene expression in patients with hepatitis C

A presente investigação teve por objetivo estudar o papel do sistema IGF no tecido hepático e nos linfócitos T e B de pacientes portadores do vírus da hepatite C, em terapia com INF- e ribavirina no período pré e pós-tratamento. Concluímos que os níveis de IGF-I livre > 1,35ng/ mL puderam ser considerados preditivos da resposta ao tratamento da hepatite C com uma razão de probabilidade / The current investigation aimed at studying the role of the IGF system in liver tissue and in T and B lymphocytes in patients with hepatitis C virus, in therapy with interferon- and ribavirin, in pre and post treatment periods. In conclusion, the levels of free IGF-I > 1,35 ng/ mL could be considered predictive of the response to the treatemnt of hepatitis C with a probability...