Circulating soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 in type C viral hepatitis

Background/Aims : Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) is one of the members of the immunoglobulin supergene family ; it expresses in response to inflammatory mediators and activation. Circulating soluble ICAM-1 (sICAM-1) levels in acute and chronic viral hepatitis C virus infection were studied. Materials and Methods : Thirty blood samples from 10 patients with acute hepatitis C, and 36 blood samples from 25 patients with chronic hepatitis C were compared with those from 10 healthy volunteers, using the enzyme immunoassay method. Results : The mean circulating sICAM-1 activities in healthy volunteers was 339±93 ng/ml. Maximum values of sICAM-1 activities in acute (1394±502 ng/ml, P= 0.004) and chronic (662±477 ng/ml, P= 0.047) hepatitis C were increased. Acute hepatitis had a higher maximum circulating sICAM-1 activity than chronic hepatitis (P= 0.009). Longitudinal circulating sICAM-1 activities roughly correlated with the serum aminotransferase (ALT) activities. In acute viral hepatitis C, three patients developed an increase in circulating sICAM-1 activities before the manifestation of abnormal ALT activity. Circulating sICAM-1 activities showed a positive correlation with serum ALT activities (P< 0.001) and serum total bilirubin levels (P= 0.001) and a negative correlation with serum albumin levels (P= 0.01). Conclusions : The present study suggested that ICAM-1 plays a role in the hepatocellular injury during viral hepatitis C infection.