PMID: 40237746 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40237746/

Abstract

AIM: To evaluate inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1β, 8, 6, soluble IL-6 receptors (sIL-6R) and fragmented cytokeratin-18 (FCK-18) as indicators of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: 173 NASH patients aged 47.0±10.8 years were examined: 118 (68.2%) - men, 55 (31.8%) - women. The following markers were determined: TNF-α (Human TNFα Platinum ELISA, eBioscience, Austria), IL-1β, 8, 6 (Vector-Best, Russia), sIL-6R (Human sIL-6R ELISA, eBioscience, Austria), FCK-18 (TPS ELISA, Biotech, Sweden), insulin (Insulin TEST System, USA), HOMA-IR (Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance) and NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS) were calculated.

RESULTS: The highest level in NASH patients compared with healthy individuals was observed for IL-6 - 8.4±1.6 pg/ml versus 2.8±0.9 pg/ml (0.001), FCK-18 - 295.3±56.3 U/l versus 110.5±30.2 U/l (0.0001), then IL-8 - 17.3±6.7 pg/ml vs 7.6±1.9 pg/ml (0.003), TNF-α - 6.3±0.4 pg/ml versus 4.1±0.8 pg/ml (0.0001), sIL-6R - 151.5±21.2 ng/ml vs 95.9±12.5 ng/ml (<0.05); IL-1β did not change - 5.3±1.4 pg/ml versus 4.7±1.5 pg/ml (0.3) respectively. FCK-18 showed the highest correlations with TNF-α (r=0.73), HOMA-IR (r=0.73), alanine aminotransferase (r=0.71), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (r=0.23), IL-6 (r=0.22); 0.05. TNF-α correlated with FCK-18 (r=0.73), cholesterol (r=0.61), albumin (r=-0.42), fibrinogen (r=0.21), leukocyte count (r=0.21); 0.05. IL-8 correlated with triglycerides (r=0.79) and HDL (r=-0.77), IL-6 - with NFS (r=0.63) and FCK-18 (r=0.22), rIL-6R - with aspartate aminotransferase (r=0.62); 0.05.

CONCLUSION: TNF-α, IL-8, 6, sIL-6R and FCK-18 should be used as non-invasive biomarkers of NASH.