Evaluation of Serum Levels of Adiponectin in Egyptian Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C

Introduction: Adiponectin is a protein hormone secreted by the adipose tissue. There is no data about the secretion of adiponectin during hepatitis C infection, some studies revealed that hypoadiponectinemia found with chronic HCV infecton is significantly associated with the development of liver steatosis. Adiponectin may be an attractive therapy for fatty liver disease. Aim of theWork: The aim of this study is to define a potential role of adiponectin in Egyptian patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection and to investigate its role in HCV-related steatosis. Subjects and Methods: The present study was conducted on thirty seven patients suffering from chronic hepatitis C and sixteen healthy volunteers served as controls. Results: The significant finding of this study is that chronic HCV patients have reduced circulating adiponectin levels than healthy controls (12.7±8.2 for HCV Vs. 19.5±11.6 for control, p=0.04). However, there is no significant correlation seen between serum adiponectin level and steatosis as well as the grades of steatosis as mean adiponectin level is 9.00±7.45 in steatosis 30% while it was 14.50±2.12 in steatosis ≥ 30% (p=0.29). Conclusion: This study demonstrated hypoadiponectinemia in HCV-infected patients, but this did not correlate with hepatic steatosis.