Liver diseases cause about 2 million deaths per year worldwide, with cirrhosis accounting for 2.1% of this number. The cytokine and chemokine balance determines outcomes of immune response. Many cytokines are involved in progression and control of various liver diseases via regulation of cellular activity.
Our aim was to assess the level of circulating cytokines and chemokines depending on the stage of fibrosis in children with chronic liver diseases.
51 children with chronic liver diseases were examined (32 children with autoimmune hepatitis, 12 children with Wilson’s disease, 5 children with Gaucher disease and 2 children with glycogen storage disease). All children were assessed for the stage of liver fibrosis (AF) using METAVIR scale (FibroScan F502). The contents of circulating serum cytokines, chemokines, growth factors and angiogenesis was determined by the MILLIPLEX® Human Cytokine/Chemokine/Growth Factor Panel A Magnetic Bead Panel, an immunoassay based on Luminex® technology. Statistical evaluation was carried out using the program “Statistica 10.0”.
The levels of EGF, Fractalkine, IFNá, IL-10 and MIG increased significantly from F0 stage to F4 stage. A significant decrease from stage F0 to stage F4 was revealed for eotaxin, IL-5, IL-8, IL-17A. Some cytokines were characterized by nonlinear dynamics: the concentrations of IL-4 and MDC increased significantly from the F0 stage to the F2-3 stage, and then decreased to the F4 stage; the level of IL-18 showed a significant decrease by stage F2-3 relative to F0, then being significantly increased by stage F4. The level of TNFáwas increased at all stages of liver fibrosis and reached its maximum values at stage F2-3 of AF.
Our data confirm the significant role of cytokines and chemokines in the pathogenesis of chronic liver diseases. The identified changes in circulating cytokines in the blood serum in children with CKD, depending on the stage of fibrosis, are characterized by differently directed disturbances thus presuming involvement of both pro- and anti-inflammatory mechanisms in the immunopathological process in the course of liver fibrosis formation. Further research is required in order to study the participation of cytokines and chemokines in formation of liver fibrosis for development of targeted therapy for liver diseases.
