Effect of hepatocyte damage in hepatic fibrogenesis of patients infected with Schistosoma japonicum

Abstract

Schistosomiasis is a serious public health problem, and previous studies found that liver function and hepatic cells are damaged. To evaluate the serum parameters of liver function and fibrosis in schistosomiasis patients infected with Schistosoma japonicum (Schistosoma J.) and analyze the correlations between liver function and serum fibrosis markers in patients infected with Schistosoma J., this retrospective study enrolled 133 patients. The study population was divided into four groups: healthy people control group (n = 20), chronic schistosomiasis without liver cirrhosis (CS) group (n = 21), schistosomiasis cirrhosis without hypoalbuminemia (SC-HA) group (n = 68), and schistosomiasis cirrhosis with hypoalbuminemia (SC +HA) group (n = 24). Clinical and laboratory data were collected for analysis. In the multiple comparison of abnormal rates of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and total bilirubin (TBIL), the abnormal rate of the SC +HA group was significantly higher than that of the other three groups (P < 0.05), and the abnormal rate of γ-GT in the SC +HA group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05). Multiple comparison results of serum levels of fibrosis markers showed that the SC group had a significantly higher level of indexes than other groups (P < 0.05). The levels of TGF-β1 in the CS group, SC-HA group and SC +HA group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.001). Our study demonstrated that the liver function and hepatic cells were damaged with the progression of liver disease in patients infected with Schistosoma J., and they played an important role in the occurrence and development of liver fibrosis.

Keywords: hepatocyte damage; liver fibrosis; liver function; schistosomiasis.

Fig 1

Serum TGF-β1 levels in different groups. The levels of TGF-β1 in the CS group, SC-HA group, and SC + HA group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.001), but the levels were similar among the three groups without significant differences (P > 0.05). Abbreviations: chronic schistosomiasis without liver cirrhosis (CS), schistosomiasis cirrhosis without hypoalbuminemia (SC-HA), schistosomiasis cirrhosis with hypoalbuminemia (SC + HA), and transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1).