Serum Apoptotic Caspase Activity in Chronic Hepatitis C and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

BACKGROUNDApoptotic caspases are substantially activated in liver and serum caspase activity has been suggested as a marker of early liver injury. AIMTo investigate whether serum levels of caspase-generated fragments of cytokeratin-18 are associated with the severity of histologic lesions in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). METHODSWe included 134 patients with chronic HCV infection and 58 patients with NAFLD, who consecutively underwent liver biopsy, and 40 healthy controls. Caspase-generated cytokeratin-18 fragment levels were blindly measured in stored serum samples. RESULTSMedian cytokeratin-18 fragment levels were lower in HCV-positive patients with minimal/mild than patients with moderate/severe histologic lesions (174 U/L vs. 223 U/L, P