Utility of M30, an apoptotic serum marker, in liver diseases

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the role of apoptosis in some common liver diseases, and the utility of M30, an apoptotic serum marker, in the diagnosis of the severity of underlying hepatic injury. As is widely known, apoptosis is programmed cell death, and its deregulation results in an uncontrolled inflammatory process leading to upregulation of liver fibrogenesis. Both extrinsic and intrinsic pathways are crucial in apoptosis, and caspase cleavage of cytokeratin proteins occurs in both. Therefore, the measurement of caspasecleaved cytokeratin fragments could be a novel method to assess the intensity of apoptotic cell numbers in epithelial tissue damage. M30 levels were found to increase not only in acute liver disorders, but also in some chronic liver injuries. We tried to summarize the recent studies focused on the role of apoptotic processes in liver diseases, mainly those that investigated the use of M30 in determining the severity of, or in predicting, ongoing liver injury.

The Role of M30 in Predicting the Severity of Liver Fibrosis and Inflammation in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients

“…The increase of apoptotic cells results in cytokine secretion, leading to induction of inflammatory and fibrotic processes (Figure 1) (6). Downstream from the cell-death receptor, the proteolytic cascade leads to activation of caspases 3, 6, and 7 (16, 20). The activation of caspases may be related to mitochondrial dysfunction, leading to cytochrome c release or direct cleavage (20, 21).…”

“…Downstream from the cell-death receptor, the proteolytic cascade leads to activation of caspases 3, 6, and 7 (16, 20). The activation of caspases may be related to mitochondrial dysfunction, leading to cytochrome c release or direct cleavage (20, 21). The susceptibility to apoptotic cell death may depend on the HBV genotype, as well (22).…”