Uluca Ünal, Şen Velat, Ece Aydın, Tan İlhan, Karabel Duran, Aktar Fesih, Karabel Müsemma, Balık Hasan, Güneş Ali
Department of Pediatrics, Dicle University, Medcal School, Diyarbakır, Turkey.
Department of Pediatrics, Dicle University, Medcal School, Diyarbakir, Turkey.
Med Sci Monit. 2015 May 13;21:1376-80. doi: 10.12659/MSM.894035.
Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is common worldwide. Follow-up of patients by the use of non-invasive techniques may be valuable in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to investigate serum galectin-3 (GAL-3) levels for monitoring disease status in children with chronic HBV infection.
MATERIAL/METHODS: Thirty-two patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), 30 inactive HBV carrier patients, and 30 matched healthy controls were enrolled in the study. We performed basic laboratory tests: serum glucose, albumin, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), total bilirubin, prothrombin time, and activated partial thromboplastin time. In addition, serum GAL-3 levels were measured by ELISA technique.
Significantly higher serum GAL-3 levels (16.5±3.6, 1.1±0.3, 0.7±0.5 ng/ml, respectively, p<0.001) and ALT levels (80.2±30.6, 26.8±12.6, 28.1±4.4 IU/L, respectively, p<0.001) were found in the CHB group compared with the inactive carriers and the control groups. There were no significant differences in ALT levels and GAL-3 levels or between inactive HBV carriers and the control groups (p>0.05, for each). Significantly higher GGT levels were found in the CHB group (51.3±27.5 IU/L) compared with the inactive HBV carriers (35.7±10.1 IU/L) and the control group (31.3±9.5 IU/L) (p<0.001, and p=0.004, respectively). A significant correlation was found between GAL-3 and ALT levels in the CHB group (r=0.82, p<0.001).
Our results suggest that serum GAL-3 level may be a beneficial indicator of chronicity in hepatitis B infection in children.
慢性乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）感染在全球范围内普遍存在。在临床实践中，使用非侵入性技术对患者进行随访可能具有重要价值。本研究旨在探讨血清半乳糖凝集素-3（GAL-3）水平在监测慢性HBV感染儿童疾病状态中的作用。
材料/方法：本研究纳入了32例慢性乙型肝炎（CHB）患者、30例非活动性HBV携带者患者以及30例匹配的健康对照。我们进行了基本实验室检查：血清葡萄糖、白蛋白、丙氨酸氨基转移酶（ALT）、天冬氨酸氨基转移酶、γ-谷氨酰转移酶（GGT）、总胆红素、凝血酶原时间和活化部分凝血活酶时间。此外，采用酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）技术检测血清GAL-3水平。
与非活动性携带者组和对照组相比，CHB组血清GAL-3水平（分别为16.5±3.6、1.1±0.3、0.7±0.5 ng/ml，p<0.001）和ALT水平（分别为80.2±30.6、26.8±12.6、28.1±4.4 IU/L，p<0.001）显著更高。非活动性HBV携带者组与对照组之间的ALT水平和GAL-3水平无显著差异（每组p>0.05）。与非活动性HBV携带者组（35.7±10.1 IU/L）和对照组（31.3±9.5 IU/L）相比，CHB组GGT水平显著更高（51.3±27.5 IU/L）（分别为p<0.001和p=0.004）。CHB组中GAL-3与ALT水平之间存在显著相关性（r=0.82，p<0.001）。
我们的结果表明，血清GAL-3水平可能是儿童乙型肝炎感染慢性化的有益指标。
