Effect of interferon alpha2b plus ribavirin treatment on selected growth factors in respect to inflammation and fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C

Table 1 Microscopic examination of liver biopsy in patients with chronic hepatitis C according to Scheuer classification scale[13].

Histological liver examination Grading (stage)	Responders	Non-responders
Portal activity of inflammation: 1/2/3/4 (n)	3/7/16/0	1/5/12/0
Lobular activity of inflammation: 1/2/3/4 (n)	12/9/1/0	6/11/1/0
Staging (stage): 1/2/3/4 (n)	19/3/0/0	9/7/2/0

Table 2 Biochemical and hematological parameters during IFNα2b with RBV therapy in chronic hepatitis C.

Time of the treatment	Alanine aminotran-sferase (U/L)	Prothrombin index (%)	Platelets (1×103/mL)	Erythrocytes(1×106/mL)	Leukocytes(1×103/mL)
0	106±50	95±9.6	208±34	4.6±0.5	6.3±2.1
16 wk	24.4±16.7	97±6.4	198±46	4.0±0.5	5.1±2.3
32 wk	19.6±13.2	99±9.2	202±63	3.9±0.6	4.6±1.5
48 wk	35±67	100±7.4	193±62	4.1±0.6	4.9±1.9

Table 3 Level of GF in chronic hepatitis C during IFNα2b with RBV therapy (mean±SD).

	HGF (pg/mL)	EGF (pg/mL)	TPO (pg/mL)	PDGF (pg/mL)
Healthy	748±91	12.9±3.3	47.6±16.5	473.2±145
0 (I)	983±227	18.4±7.1a	55.5±17.2	387±116
16 wk (II)	752±277	12.7±6.3	71±56.3	334±84.8a
32 wk (III)	783±297	13.9±5.2	67.5±18.3a	342±84.5a
48 wk (IV)	770±278	15.8±5.7	62.5±28.1	330±138a
P value	NS	I:II P<0.01	NS	I:II P<0.02
		I:III P<0.01		I:III P<0.03
		II:IV P<0.04

^aP<0.05 Student’s t test.

Table 4 Serum concentrations of GF in virological responders and non-responders, Student’s t test (mean±SD).

Growth factor	Responders		Non-responders		P
	0 wk	48 wk	0 wk	48 wk	0 wk	48 wk
HGF (pg/mL)	873±210	792±198	919±257	742±260	0.6	0.7
EGF (pg/mL)	16.8±5.8	16.1±6.2	20.4±8.4	15.5±4.9	0.2	0.8
TPO (pg/mL)	48.4±14	68.8±13	64.2±17.1	54.8±12	0.03	0.2
PDGF (pg/mL)	425±111	292±180	340±111	377±98	0.1	0.1

Table 5 Correlation of GF in the course of IFNα2b with RBV therapy with grade activity of inflammation and fibrosis in the liver in responders (R) and non-responders (NR). Histological classification according to Scheuer[13].

Growth factor		Inflammation activity, grading		Fibrosis hepatitis,staging
		Periportal	Intralobular
HGF	R	NR	r = 0.4, P<0.05	r = 0.5, P<0.05
	NS	NS	r = 0.5, P<0.03	r = 0.4, P<0.03
EGF	R	r=–0.6, P<0.003	r = –0.5, P<0.01	NS
	NR	NS	NS	NS
TPO	R	r=0.5, P<0.01	r = 0.6, P<0.004	r = 0.5, P<0.01
	NR	NS	NS	r = 0.4, P<0.04
PDGF	R	r=–0.5, P<0.01	r = –0.5, P<0.02	NS
	NR	NS	NS	NS

r - statistical correlation, Spearman’s non-parametrical test, P<0.05 statistically significant, NS – no statistical significance.