Association between plasma interleukin-18 levels and liver injury in chronic hepatitis C virus infection and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

There is significant upregulation of interleukin-18 (IL-18) expression in viral infectious diseases and in some chronic hepatic diseases, especially (i) hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, (ii) HCV infection with persistently normal ALT levels (PNAL), and (iii) non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The aim of this study was a better understanding of the implications of plasma IL-18 levels in the above-mentioned liver diseases. Thirty-four patients with HCV infection, 13 with NAFLD, and 10 controls were enrolled. The HCV-RNA and HCV-genotypes and the serum or plasma levels of IL-18, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (gamma-GT), alkaline phosphatase, total cholesterol, triglycerides, alpha(1)-fetoprotein, and ferritin were evaluated. Patients with HCV showed higher levels of IL-18 than the NAFLD patients (p0.01) and the controls (p0.005). Patients with NAFLD showed higher values of body mass index and liver disease parameters, compared to HCV-infected subjects or controls. These data confirm previous reports of enhanced expression of IL-18 in patients with HCV and NAFLD, compared to healthy subjects, and suggest that IL-18 is important as a marker of liver diseases.