Hepatitis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Hepatitis, including details on hepatitis a, b, c, causes, symptoms.

Hepatic oxidative DNA damage correlates with iron overload in chronic hepatitis C patients.

Fujita N, Horiike S, Sugimoto R, Tanaka H, Iwasa M, Kobayashi Y, Hasegawa K, Ma N, Kawanishi S, Adachi Y, Kaito M

Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Division of Clinical Medicine and Biomedical Science, Institute of Medical Science, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan. nfujita@clin.medic.mie-u.ac.jp

Hepatic oxidative stress occurs in chronic hepatitis C (CH-C), but little is known about its producing mechanisms and precise role in the pathogenesis of the disease. To determine the relevance of hepatic oxidatively generated DNA damage in CH-C, 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) adducts were quantified in liver biopsy specimens by immunohistochemical staining, and its relationship with clinical, biochemical, and histological parameters, and treatment response was assessed in 40 CH-C patients. Hepatic 8-OHdG counts were significantly correlated with serum transaminase levels (r=0.560, p=0.0005) and histological grading activity (p=0.0013). Remarkably, 8-OHdG levels were also significantly related to body and hepatic iron storage markers (vs serum ferritin, r=0.565, p=0.0004; vs hepatic total iron score, r=0.403, p=0.0119; vs hepatic hepcidin messenger RNA, r=0.516, p=0.0013). Baseline hepatic oxidative stress was more prominent in nonsustained virological responder (non-SVR) than in SVR to interferon (IFN)/ribavirin treatment (50.8 vs 32.7 cells/10(5) microm2, p=0.0086). After phlebotomy, hepatic 8-OHdG levels were significantly reduced from 53.4 to 21.1 cells/10(5) microm2 (p=0.0125) with concomitant reductions of serum transaminase and iron-related markers in CH-C patients. In conclusion, this study showed that hepatic oxidatively generated DNA damage frequently occurs and is strongly associated with increased iron deposition and hepatic inflammation in CH-C patients, suggesting that iron overload is an important mediator of hepatic oxidative stress and disease progression in chronic HCV infection.

Published 9 January 2007 in Free Radic Biol Med, 42(3): 353-62.
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