Serum lipid profile as a marker of liver impairment in hepatitis B Cirrhosis patients

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Chronic HBV infection is a major cause of Cirrhosis and an important risk factor to develop hepatocellular carcinoma. The study is conducted to find out the changes in the lipid metabolism of HBV-cirrhosis patients. METHODS: In the present study, serum lipid profiles of patients with HBV-cirrhosis were assessed by utilizing micro-lab and gas chromatography, while risk factors for transmission of HBV-cirrhosis studied through the standard questionnaire. RESULTS: The epidemiological and etiological risk factors strongly associated with HBV-cirrhosis patients compared to controls, included as family history, shave from the barber, blood transfusion (without proper screening), mutual sharing of household contents, positive surgery history, and dental treatment. The HBV-cirrhosis patients have significantly lower level (p < 0.001) of lipid profile including total cholesterol (96.65 mg/dl), TAG (82.85 mg/dl), VLDL-C (16.57 mg/dl), LDL-C (68.27 mg/dl), HDL-C (27 mg/dl) and total lipid (424.76 mg/dl) in comparison to controls, indicating hypolipidemia in patients. The MELD score indicated mild prognostic values of the hepatic function for the study group. The result of total fatty acid composition of HBV-cirrhotic patients with comparison of control subjects reveals that palmitic (24.54 g/100 g) and palmitoleic acid (4.65 g/100 g) were significantly (p < 0.05) higher whereas eicosatrienoic (0.09 g/100 g), arachidonic (3.57 g/100 g), linoleic (22.75 g/100 g) and α-linolenic acid (0.12 g/100 g) were significantly lower. Marker for stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD = ∆9-desaturase) activity i.e. palmitoleic: palmitic (0.2) and oleic: stearic acid (1.5) ratios, originated higher in HBV-cirrhotic patients, while PUFA: SFA (0.6) was lower in HBV-cirrhosis patients as compared with control subjects. The serum SFA and MUFA were increased while PUFA were reduced in both total and free form. CONCLUSION: Present study concluded that hypolipidemia observed in HBV-cirrhosis patients, MELD were found to be independent predictors of survival and alteration in fatty acid composition, possibly due to impairment in fatty acid metabolism by enzymatic elongation and desaturation.