This study comprise 400 chronic HCV adult patients examined to
evaluate the correlations between serum HCV RNA titers and extent of
hepatic histopathology. Results showed significant differences of
mean serum HCV RNA titers related to various grading scores of
necroinflammatory reactions (F test = 7.13 & P value = 0.053) as well as
with various staging scores of fibrosis (F test = 3.91 & P value = 0.147).
Also, statistically significant correlations were observed in
patients aged more than 40 years among serum HCV RNA levels and
various grading scores of necroinflammatory reactions and
various staging scores of fibrosis, but these correlations were not linear
and were not related to sex. In conclusion, HCV RNA titers
cannot predict the extent and severity of hepatic histopathologic injury and therefore, cannot replace liver
biopsies. Further studies forhistopathologic injury relationship to
some inflammatory cytokines (INFO,IL-10, TGF-6) are needed in an
attempt to search for a noninvasive predictor of histopathologic injury. |
