SERUM LEVELS OF SOLUBLE INTERCELLULAR-ADHESION MOLECULE-1 (SICAM-1) AS A POTENTIAL MARKER OF DISEASE-ACTIVITY AND REMISSION IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS-C

Aim. To assess whether serum levels of sICAM-1 can be correlated with clinical parameters associated with liver inflammation in chronic hepa titis C patients before and after IFN-alpha treatment and whether in p atients who respond to this treatment sICAM-1 levels correlate with re lapse or sustained response, Methods, 34 patients diagnosed with chron ic active hepatitis C were administered IFN-alpha at a dose of 9 mil p er week for 12 months, in all patients sICAM-1 levels were measured by ELISA before treatment and after 6 and 12 months of therapy, In addit ion, sICAM-1 levels were measured in all patients who responded to IFN -alpha at 6-month intervals after stopping treatment, for a total 2-ye ar follow-up. Results, In all patients, a significant correlation betw een sICAM-1 levels and the degree of hepatic involvement at biopsy was observed before starting the treatment, sICAM-1 levels remained eleva ted throughout the study in all patients who did not respond to IFN-al pha therapy, whereas they showed a significant decrease in all patient s exhibiting normal ALT levels following IFN-alpha administration, Mor eover, a slow but steady decrease in sICAM-1 serum concentrations to v alues overlapping those of control subjects was observed in sustained responders after a 2-year follow-up; in contrast, all the patients who relapsed showed a further increase in sICAM-1 levels, Conclusions, Th ese observations suggest that measurement of sICAM-1 serum levels in c hronic hepatitis C patients may be useful for monitoring liver inflamm ation, especially considering that ALT values may only reflect hepatoc ellular necrosis while invasive procedures, such as follow-up-liver bi opsies, are often not well accepted by patients, Further studies will be necessary to assess whether sICAM-1 levels may be used in helping d ecide the optimal dose and duration of IFN-alpha treatment.