Introduction: Urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) are known to be important factors in the pathogenesis of tumors and certain non-viral inflammatory diseases. However, their role in infectious virus diseases such as hepatitis B has been less well studied. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that the abnormalities of fibrinolysis and degradation of extracellular matrix mediated by uPA and uPAR are directly related to the inflammatory damage to liver cells caused by the hepatitis B virus. We therefore analyzed their role and clinicopathological significance in patients with acute or chronic hepatitis B.
Materials and methods: Eighty patients with acute or chronic hepatitis B, together with 30 healthy controls, were enrolled. uPA and uPAR in plasma were detected by commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits.
Results: The levels of uPA and uPAR in patients with acute or chronic hepatitis B significantly exceeded those in healthy controls (p<0.05). Patients with severe chronic hepatitis B had significantly higher levels of uPA and uPAR than those with moderate and mild chronic disease (p<0.05) and those with acute hepatitis B (p<0.05). Moreover, the plasma uPA and uPAR markedly increased in the acute stage (p<0.05) and dramatically decreased in the remission stage (p<0.05), but in all stages levels exceeded those in healthy subjects (p<0.05). In addition, the concentration of plasma uPAR was positively correlated with prothrombin (PT) (r=0.605, p<0.01) and total bilirubin (TBIL) (r=0.649, p<0.01).
Conclusions: It is suggested that the plasma levels of uPA and uPAR are closely related to the degree and period of inflammation in patients with acute or chronic hepatitis B, and that uPA and uPAR might be important indicators for disease progression.