الفهرس 
Introduction and Aim of the WorkOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Summary
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is found worldwide
with some countries having chronic infection rates as high as
5% and above. Egypt has the largest epidemic of hepatitis C
virus (HCV) in the world. Hepatitis C is the cause of 27% of
cirrhotic cases and 25% of hepatocellular carcinoma
worldwide.
The persistence of infection can be treated with
medication. The standard therapy is a combination of
peginterferon and the anti viral drug ribavirin. Direct-acting
antiviral agents (DAAs) as polymerase and portease inhibitors
can be used in some cases. Successful treatment decreases the
future risk of hepatocellular carcinoma.
In the last decade, clinical investigators have been
searching for non- invasive methods for accurate information
about liver protections from inflammation, fibrogenesis
activity and fibrosis stages in patients with hepatitis C viral
infection.
The aim of our work was to evaluate the serum levels of
adiponectin in patients with HCV induced chronic hepatitis,
assess its levels in those patients with or without interferon
therapy and detect its level before and during treatment in
responders.
This study included 20 patients with chronic liver
disease on top of HCV infection receiving interferon therapy
Their ages ranged from 32 years up to 59years, with mean
46.500±7.522 and 20 patients with chronic liver diseases on
top of HCV infection not fulfilling the criteria of interferon
treatment protocol their ages ranged from 38 years up to 70
years with mean of 50.00±8.909. All were subjected to through
medical history taking, full clinical examination,
Pelviabdominal ultrasoungraphy, liver biopsy, and
investigations for liver enzymes, coagulation profile, renal
functions test and adiponectin levels using ELISA kit.
Adiponectin serum levels were increased after 12 weeks
interferon therapy mainly in responder, and it was increased in
patients who had early stage of fibrosis more than who had late
stage of fibrosis.
Adiponectin showed an area under the receiver
operating characteristic (AUROC) curve with cut off value >3
ng/dl, giving sensitivity and specificity for discriminating
significant fibrosis (F > 2) from non significant fibrosis (F < 2)
of 24.2% and 100% respectively. Aslo Adiponectin showed an
area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC)
curve with cut off value <=1ng/dl for discriminating hepatic
cirrhosis from early stages of fibrosis, giving sensitivity and
specificity of 25% and 87.5% respectively.