Is neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin useful in hepatitis C virus infection?

摘要

AIM: To evaluate neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin(NGAL) in patients infected by hepatitis C virus(HCV) before and during treatment with directly acting antivirals(DAAs).METHODS: NGAL was measured in a group of patients with chronic HCV infection ranked, at baseline, by age, gender, anti-hypertensive therapy, HCV viral load, liver fibrosis stage and, either at baseline or after 1 year, estimated glomerular filtration rate(e GFR). Then, NGAL and e GFR evolutions were monitored in a subgroup of patients who started antiviral therapy with DAAs. Differences of median NGAL levels were evaluated through Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test for nonparametric data. Differences in dichotomous variables were evaluated through χ~2 test. At baseline, a univariate regression analysis was conducted to verify if NGAL values correlated with other quantitative variables [age, fibrosis four(FIB-4), AST to platelet ratio index(APRI), and e GFR]. RESULTS: Overall, 48 patients were enrolled, 8 of them starting HCV treatment. At baseline, statistically significant differences were found in median NGAL values only between patients with e GFR 118.11 ng/d L were compared with those of NGAL ≤ 118.11 ng/d L, not statistically significant differences were present for age, gender, chronic kidney disease classification and liver fibrosis(P > 0.05). Linear correlation was found between NGAL and both age(P = 0.0475) and e GFR(P = 0.0282) values. Not statistically significant predictions of NGAL at baseline were demonstrated for e GFR evolution 1 year later. Interestingly, in the 8 patients treated with DAAs, median NGAL significantly increased at week 12 compared to baseline(P = 0.0239).CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that NGAL should be further evaluated as an adjunct marker of kidney function in these patients.