Aim: To investigate the relationship between serum levels of ferritin and bile acids (BA) and the response to antiviral treatment in chronic hepatitis C (HCV).
Methods: A retrospective study was carried out on 35 control volunteers and 50 patients receiving interferon alpha-2b alone or plus ribavirin for 48 weeks. These were classified as sustained responders (SR) for >6 months after therapy (n = 17), non-responders (NR) (n = 27) and relapsers (RL) (n = 6). Before treatment, serum ferritin levels were determined by immunoturbidometry, 3alpha-hydroxyl-BA levels (S-3alpha-OH-BA) were assayed enzymatically and total (desulfated, deglucuronidated and deamidated) BA concentrations (STBA) by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.
Results: STBA were lower in controls than in patients (SR < NR + RL). The highest levels of cholic acid and chenodeoxycholic acid families were found in NR + RL. Levels of cholic acid family were similar in controls and SR, whereas those of chenodeoxycholic acid family were higher in SR than in controls. A significant correlation between STBA (but not S-3alpha-OH-BA) and ferritin was found. Apparent value to predict the absence of a sustained response was calculated by combining elevated ferritin (>300 microg/mL) and STBA or individual BA species at different cut-off values. The best degree of certainty (100% specificity) was obtained using STBA >15 microM.
Conclusion: These results recommend that larger prospective trials should be performed in chronic HCV patients to evaluate the usefulness of combined measuring of STBA and ferritin as additional prognostic markers to predict the existence of a very low probability of a sustained response to the current standard treatment, i.e. pegylated interferon in combination with ribavirin.