Circulating cytokeratin-18 and tumour necrosis factor-α in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis

Aims. The aim of the study was to assess the usefulness of TNF-α and CK-18 as diagnostic markers of alcoholic liver cirrhosis. Additionally, the effects of the stage of liver cirrhosis on concentrations of TNF-α and CK-18, as well as their correlation, were evaluated. Materials and method. Sixty-two patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis treated in various hospitals were randomly enrolled. The stage of cirrhosis was assessed according to the Child-Turcotte-Pugh scoring system. The control group consisted of 31 healthy people without liver disease. Concentrations of TNF-α and cytokeratin-18 in blood plasma of patients and controls were measured using the sandwich enzyme immunoassay technique, with commercially available quantitative ELISA test kits. Results. The concentration of CK-18 was statistically higher in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis, compared to the control group. The concentration of TNF-α was significantly higher in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis, compared to the control group. Higher concentrations of TNF-α were found only in patients with stage C and B alcoholic liver cirrhosis, compared to healthy persons. Conclusions. The levels of TNF-α and total CK-18 were higher in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis than in healthy individuals. No correlation was found between the level of CK-18 and stage of liver cirrhosis.