These findings suggest that polaprezinc exerts an anti-inflammatory effect on the liver in patients with HCV-related CLD by reducing iron overload.

The association between anticentromere antibody (ACA) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection remains unclear. We subjected eight patients with HCV-related chronic liver disease (CLD) seropositive for ACA to a battery of clinical and laboratory tests. The patient cohort was dominated by females, and four of the eight (50%) patients had a concomitant autoimmune disease. All of the patients had high titers of ACA (>or=1:320). The histological activity index scores in chronic hepatitis C (CH-C) patients with ACA were significantly higher than those in CH-C patients without antinuclear antibody (ANA) (12.8 +/- 1.8 vs. 8.3 +/- 4.5, P = 0.0372). The frequency of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) DR-8 in patients with HCV-related CLD seropositive for ACA was significantly higher than that in patients with CH-C seronegative for ANA (71 vs. 18%, P = 0.0108). These findings suggest that ACA is induced by chronic HCV infection in association with HLA DR-8, and that CH-C patients with ACA exhibit more severe hepatic fibrosis and inflammation than CH-C patients without ANA.

These results suggest that the emergence of ACA is not a distinct entity of AIH, despite its clinical characteristics of a significantly higher frequency of concurrent autoimmune diseases and lower serum IgG levels.

The relationship between metabolic abnormalities of trace elements and insulin resistance has been established. Recent studies have revealed that insulin resistance is associated with autoimmune responses. The purpose of this study was to examine the correlation between zinc or copper metabolism and insulin resistance in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). Sixteen patients with PBC were divided into two groups: early and advanced stage disease. The overall value of the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in patients with advanced stage PBC was significantly higher than that in patients with early stage PBC, although the mean value in advanced stage PBC was significantly lower than that in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related liver cirrhosis. There was an inverse correlation between serum zinc concentrations and HOMA-IR values in patients with PBC, while we found no correlation between serum copper levels and HOMA-IR values. HOMA-IR values were inversely associated with peripheral platelet counts, indicating the relationship between insulin resistance and hepatic fibrosis. These results suggest that zinc deficiency plays important roles of insulin resistance and subsequent hepatic fibrosis in patients with PBC, although insulin resistance in advanced stage PBC was significantly milder than that in HCV-related liver cirrhosis.