Our findings suggest that common IL-10 (-1082, -819 and -592) genotypes/haplotypes do not influence the degree of HAI and response to combination therapy or susceptibility to HCV infection with and without S. mansoni co-infection.

There is an apparent protective effect of S. mansoni coinfection against mixed cryoglobulinaemia in chronic hepatitis C patients.

Cirrhotic patients with ascites are at high risk of developing spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP). After exclusion of patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) or other infections, urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) levels were compared between two matched groups of Egyptian cirrhotic patients with ascites, mostly secondary to hepatitis C infection (98%). Group 1 had SBP (n = 41) and group 2 did not (n = 45). By univariate analysis, urinary-NGAL, high total bilirubin, serum creatinine, international normalised ratio and the Model of End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score and low platelet count were all significantly correlated with the presence of SBP, but only urinary-NGAL could independently predict development of SBP ( P = 0.001). Urinary-NGAL at a cut-off value of 1225 pg/mL, showed a sensitivity of 95% and a specificity of 76%, and is therefore a most useful tool.

Background: Most effective method for reducing mortality from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is early diagnosis. Despite its lack of adequate sensitivity, ultrasound is considered fundamental for HCC screening. Aim: to evaluate urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) as non-invasive marker for HCC diagnosis in Egyptian patients. Methods: One hundred and twenty patients were divided into three groups (40 patients each): patients with chronic viral hepatitis (HCV or HBV), cirrhotic patients and HCC patients and 40 healthy age and gender matched subjects were enrolled as control group. After clinical assessments, urinary NGAL was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Our results revealed that median level of urinary NGAL was 290, 834, 1090 and 1925 pg/ml in control, chronic hepatitis, cirrhotic and HCC groups respectively among studied groups (p<0.001). Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis showed that urinary NGAL cutoff value of 1255 ng/ml could discriminate between HCC and cirrhosis. The area under curve (AUC) was 0.95 with 90% sensitivity, 87.5% specificity (p-value <0.001). In HCC group, urine NGAL level didn`t show significant correlation with Child Pugh score, MELD score or Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage. Conclusion: Urinary NGAL could be a simple, non-invasive test for diagnosis of HCC in chronic liver disease patients.

Background & Aim: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a globally prevalent pathogen and a leading cause of death and morbidity. IFN-gamma inducible protein 10 kDa (IP-10, or CXCL10), predict a more pronounced first phase decline of HCV RNA during anti-viral therapy. We assessed pretreatment serum IP-10 as a predictor of SVR in treated chronic HCV. Subjects and methods: Seventy adult chronic HCV patients were included in the prospective controlled study and 10 healthy subjects as a control group. All patients were treated with combined pegylated interferon and ribavirin therapy: pegylated IFN-α2b, 1.5 µg/kg/week or pegylated IFN-α2a, 180 µg/week SC plus ribavirin (15mg/kg/day orally) for 48 weeks and were followed up for 6 months later. Results: There was statistically significant difference between the Non-SVR group and SVR group as regards IP10 level (395 ±167.9 vs. 159.9 ±55.2) pg/ml; AFP level (7.2 ±11.4 vs. 3.8 ±1.8) ng/ml and Liver Stiffness measurement by transient elastography (10.9 ±6.3 vs. 7.4 ±2.5) kpa, respectively. On multivariate regression analysis for predictors of post-treatment SVR: IP10 was the only independent predictor of achieving SVR (Odds=0.97; C.I 95%= 0.95-0.99; P=0.002). At cutoff point for IP10 more than 216.6 pg/ml has a sensitivity of 90%, specificity 87.5%, PPV 84.4% and NPV 92.1% at P = 0.001; C.I 95% = 0.900-1.000 to define patients with SVR.