Email this article 
Serum apoptotic caspase activity as a marker of severity in chronic hepatitis C virus infection
Abstract
Background & Aim: Apoptotic caspases are substantially activated
in liver of patients with chronic hepatitis C and preliminary
data suggest that serum caspase activity may represent
a sensitive marker of early liver injury. We investigated
whether the serum levels of caspase-generated fragments of
cytokeratin-18 are associated with the severity of liver histological
lesions in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.
Methods: We included 134 patients with chronic HCV infection
who consecutively underwent liver biopsy as well as 30
healthy controls. Histological liver lesions were evaluated according
to the Ishak’s classification. Chronic hepatitis C was
considered to be present in cases with grading score ≥4 and/or
stage ≥2, while cases with grading score
in liver of patients with chronic hepatitis C and preliminary
data suggest that serum caspase activity may represent
a sensitive marker of early liver injury. We investigated
whether the serum levels of caspase-generated fragments of
cytokeratin-18 are associated with the severity of liver histological
lesions in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.
Methods: We included 134 patients with chronic HCV infection
who consecutively underwent liver biopsy as well as 30
healthy controls. Histological liver lesions were evaluated according
to the Ishak’s classification. Chronic hepatitis C was
considered to be present in cases with grading score ≥4 and/or
stage ≥2, while cases with grading score