Role of Biomarkers, Immune Complements C3 and C4 and Alfa Fetoprotein Levels in Chronic Liver Disease in Egypt

Some of the population in Egypt has a heavy burden of liver diseases, mostly due to chronic infection with hepatitis C and B viruses and Bilharzias that is considered as important environmental risk factor, which can go unnoticed until decades after infection, when liver damage becomes evident. The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of liver biomarkers, Alfa fetoprotein (AFP) and complements C3 and C4 as immune biomarkers in sera of patients suffering from chronic hepatitis C and B and bilharzias. The study population included patients attending the Armed Forces Medical Research Laboratories and Blood Bank. Individuals under investigation were divided into four groups comprising 30 individuals each. Group 1: included control healthy individuals, group 2: included patients with chronic HCV, group 3: included patients with chronic HBV and group 4: included patients with Bilharzias (BILZ) infected by Schistosomiasis mansoni. All patient groups were characterized by increase in all biochemical markers of liver function tests (AST, ALT and GGT) and reduction in albumin level in their sera as compared to the control group. The results also illustrated that in HCV and HBV groups, there were significant reduction in serum levels of complement system C3 and C4, these effects were associated with significant increase in AFP level compared to control group. In patients suffering from HCV, the RNA viral load as measured by quantitative PCR showed no statistically significant correlation with AST, ALT, GGT, AFP, C3, C4 and albumin. In conclusion the results of this study indicate it is advisable to estimate these biomarkers for the hope of early screening for population who are at risk for developing liver cancer.