RESUMO
BACKGROUND: It has been demonstrated that there may be a relationship between liver fibrosis and serum biomarkers. The aim of this study was to investigate pre- and postoral antiviral therapy levels of these biomarkers and their relationship with other fibrotic parameters in hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients. METHODS: The study group comprised HCV patients who were treated with oral antiviral regimens. Prior to, and 8 months after the treatment, serum biomarkers, including transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß), chitinase-3-like protein 1 (YKL-40), collagen type IV, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and hyaluronic acid levels, were examined and fibrosis-4 (Fib-4) and aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI) scores were calculated at the same times. RESULTS: In total, 45 HCV patients (aged between 27 and 86 years) participated. Of these 20 (44.4%) were cirrhotic and 25 (55.6%) were noncirrhotic. The concentrations of YKL-40 (P = 0.01) and TGF-ß (P = 0.032) after treatment were significantly higher than the pretreatment values, whereas hyaluronic acid concentrations decreased after treatment (P = 0.001). Noncirrhotic patients had significantly higher (P = 0.03) YKL-40 levels prior to therapy compared to cirrhotic patients. Median MMP-2 concentrations were higher in men than in women (P = 0.001). Prior to treatment, TGF-ß, YKL-40 and collagen type IV levels were negatively correlated with Fib-4 scores, whereas only TGF-ß and YKL-40 concentrations were negatively correlated with APRI scores. CONCLUSION: YKL-40, TGF ß and hyaluronic acid may be markers for fibrotic change during oral therapy for HCV. In particular, TGF ß concentrations correlated with fibrotic indices. However, these results should be confirmed and validated by further research.