Determination of serum IL-23 and its significance in patients with severe chronic hepatitis B / 中华实验和临床病毒学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the level of the serum IL-23 and its correlation with serum biochemical indices of liver function tests and HBV DNA load in patients with chronic severe hepatitis B.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Fifty patients with chronic severe hepatitis B (severe hepatitis group) and 18 healthy controls (control group) were enrolled in the study. The serum IL-23 expression level was detected by ELISA method. The correlation between IL-23 and ALT, AST, TBil, HBV DNA load was analyzed using Pearson's correlation analysis, respectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Serum IL-23 expression level in severe hepatitis group was significantly higher than that of control group (P < 0.05). Serum IL-23 level was positively correlated with serum ALT, AST, respectively (P < 0.05), but was not correlated with TBil and HBV DNA load, respectively (P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Serum IL-23 expression level was increased in patients with chronic severe hepatitis B and was associated with the severe of inflammation. We, therefore, believe that IL-23 might be involved in the pathogenesis of chronic severe hepatitis B.</p>