Increased levels of gamma GT suggest the presence of bile duct lesions in patients with chronic hepatitis C - Absence of influence of HCV genotype, HCV-RNA serum levels, and HGV infection on this histological damage

Damage to bile ducts in chronic hepatitis C is a characteristic histologica l lesion. Moreover, the presence of abnormal levels of gamma GT in these pa tients is also a common finding. Assessing whether the presence of bile duc t lesions is indicated by biochemical abnormalities or whether virological characteristics can influence their development may help in the definition of clinical-histological relationships in chronic hepatitis C. In this stud y we evaluated the relationships among routine biochemical parameters, seru m bile acids, and pi-class glutathione S-transferase levels, and the presen ce of bile duct lesions in 60 patients with chronic hepatitis C. Furthermor e, we assessed whether the presence of bile duct lesion might be related to HCV genotype, HCV-RNA serum levels, and positivity for HGV-RNA. We found t hat gamma GT was the only parameter related to the presence of bile duct le sions. Although a trend towards higher serum bile acids and pi-class glutat hione S-transferase levels was observed in patients with bile duct lesions, this trend did not reach statistical significance. Different HCV genotypes and RNA levels, and HGV-RNA positivity did not seem to influence the prese nce of bile duct damage. In conclusion we found that gamma GT levels point out the presence of bile duct lesions in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Since we observed a different pattern of alteration of gamma GT, serum bil e acids, and pi-class glutathione S-transferase, we suggest that these vari ous biochemical alterations reflect a more complex damage to bile duct stru ctures, which is not likely represented by the common assessment of bile du ct lesions. Viral factors such as HCV genotype and RNA levels as well as HG V-RNA positivity are probably not the main cause of this histological damag e.