Abstract
Background and aims: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a serious global health problem that affects about 180 million people worldwide. Egypt has a very high prevalence of HCV and a high morbidity and mortality from chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. The goal of antiviral therapy is to cure hepatitis C via a sustained elimination of the virus, which is achieved if the HCV RNA remains negative six months after the end of treatment (sustained virological response, SVR). Nitric oxide (NO) is a short, lived, highly reactive free radical, influences many physiological processes in virtually every organ and tissue. Aim was to study the role of nitric oxide level in chronic hepatitis C patients as a predictor of response to antiviral therapy in relation to the level of viremia.
Patients and methods: 60 subjects were eligible for the study and were classified into two groups: Group I: Included forty HCV patients who were candidates for initiation of antiviral combination therapy, also they were followed 12 weeks after. Group II: Included twenty adult apparently healthy volunteers negative for both HBsAg and HCV Ab and have no clinical or laboratory signs of liver diseases.
Results: there was a significant difference in the post-treatment level of NO between responders and non-responders where the level of NO was higher in responders than in non-responders.
Conclusions: The study concluded that increasing level of serum NO in HCV patients in response to antiviraltherapy can be considered as a predictor of response.
Key-words: antiviral therapy, hepatitis, nitric oxide
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v3i10.52
