Ghany M G, Chan T M, Sanchez-Pescador R, Urdea M, Lok A S
Section of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Tulane University Medical Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
Dig Dis Sci. 1996 Nov;41(11):2213-8. doi: 10.1007/BF02071402.
Cross-sectional studies on the correlation between serum hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels in patients with chronic hepatitis C have yielded conflicting results. We conducted a longitudinal study to examine the correlation between HCV viremia and serum ALT levels in individual patients over time. Serial samples (mean 9) from 25 patients with chronic HCV infection, including interferon-treated and untreated immunocompetent and immunosuppressed patients, collected over a period of 1-4.8 years (mean 2.6 years) were tested for HCV RNA and ALT levels using a highly reproducible quantitative (bDNA) assay. A significant correlation was found between serum HCV RNA and ALT levels in the patients who received IFN therapy, but no correlation was observed in the untreated patients. Among the untreated patients, the immunosuppressed patients had significantly higher HCV RNA levels (39 +/- 4 vs 3.6 +/- 8 Meq/ml, P < 0.0001) but significantly lower ALT (56 +/- 11 vs 97 +/- 12 units/liter, P = 0.03) levels when compared to the immunocompetent ones. In summary, we found no correlation between serum HCV RNA and ALT levels in chronic hepatitis C patients who are not receiving interferon therapy. Immunosuppression results in higher HCV RNA but lower ALT levels.
关于慢性丙型肝炎患者血清丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）RNA与丙氨酸转氨酶（ALT）水平之间相关性的横断面研究得出了相互矛盾的结果。我们进行了一项纵向研究，以随时间检查个体患者中HCV病毒血症与血清ALT水平之间的相关性。使用高度可重复的定量（bDNA）检测法，对25例慢性HCV感染患者（包括接受干扰素治疗和未接受治疗的免疫功能正常和免疫抑制患者）在1至4.8年（平均2.6年）期间采集的系列样本（平均9份）进行了HCV RNA和ALT水平检测。在接受干扰素治疗的患者中，血清HCV RNA与ALT水平之间存在显著相关性，但在未接受治疗的患者中未观察到相关性。在未接受治疗的患者中，与免疫功能正常的患者相比，免疫抑制患者的HCV RNA水平显著更高（39±4对3.6±8 Meq/ml，P<0.0001），但ALT水平显著更低（56±11对97±12单位/升，P = 0.03）。总之，我们发现在未接受干扰素治疗的慢性丙型肝炎患者中，血清HCV RNA与ALT水平之间无相关性。免疫抑制导致更高的HCV RNA水平但更低的ALT水平。
