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Abstract
Chronic liver diseases (CLDs) and cirrhosis are two of the most important health problems according to the current gasroentrology literature. CLDs are common pediatric problem in children in the developing countries and the tenth leading cause of mortality in the United States.
CLDs are defined by the continuity of the clinical and biochemical evidence of hepatic dysfunction for longer than six months.
CLDs are characterized by an exacerbated accumulation of the extra cellular matrix (ECM), causing progressive fibrosis, which is the hallmark of the chronic liver disease.
Transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF-β-1) is an important cytokine induced in the process of fibrosis. In the liver TGF-β-1 is primarily responsible for activation of fat storing cells, which are the main source of ECM proteins. Their deposition plays a key role in the development of liver cirrhosis.
Many old and recent researches studied TGF-β-1 whose estimation in tissues still need liver biopsy and complicated techniques of molecular biology which are time consuming and invasive, resulting in the limitation of their clinical application. However its estimation in the serum of the patients with CLDs, despite of being not very clear as an indicator or predictor of the severity of liver disease, will be much easier, better and may give clues that anti TGF-β-1 therapies may therefore prove beneficial.